Economics and Finance

All programs offered by the Foster College of Business, Bradley University, are accredited by the AACSB International: The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

FACULTY Professors Lewer (chair), Horvath, O'Brien, Roos, Sinha; Assistant Professors Arthur, Corbett, Ngwaba, Yencha;

The Department of Economics and Finance offers majors in Economics, Finance and Actuarial Science as well as minors in Economics, Finance, and Decision Analysis.

Personal Financial Planning Major

The Personal Financial Planning Major will provide students with the foundation needed to pursue a career in financial advisory services. This career track includes personal wealth management, insurance, and personal banking. The major aligns with, and will help students, earn the Certified Financial Planning (CFP) designation.

Students interested in the Personal Financial Planning Major are strongly encouraged to consider concentrations in Social Media Marketing and/or Sales. Students cannot double major in corporate and personal finance.

Departmental requirements for the Personal Financial Planning Major:

•  A total of 19 credit hours of core finance topic:
  • FIN 200 Finance Career Foundations
  • ATG 201 Accounting Processes
  • ATG 301 Intermediate Accounting I
  • FIN 322 Business Finance
  • FIN 325 Overview of Investment Analysis
  • FIN 328 Financial Institutions and Markets
  • FIN 422 Financial Analysis
•  A total of 15 hours of foundation courses in Personal Finance
  • FIN 220 Personal Finance
  • MTG 330 Financial Services Marketing
  • FIN 331 Personal Investing
  • ATG 479 Personal Tax and Estate Planning.
  • FIN 495 Personal Financial Planning Capstone
•  Additional requirements
  • The required math option in the Foster College Core is MTH 115
  • Students complete Q M 263 as their Foster College Core Quantitative-Skill Building course

Typical Course Sequence

For a four-year course plan for each major in the Foster College of Business, go to:http://www.bradley.edu/academic/colleges/fcba/.

Corporate Finance Major

The Corporate Finance Major will provide students with the foundation needed to pursue a career in corporate finance.  This career track includes treasury management, commercial banking and financial analysis.  The major aligns with and will help students obtain the Charter Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

Students interested in the Corporate Finance Major are strongly encouraged to consider a minor is Management Information Systems and/or Accounting Minors.  Students cannot double major in corporate and personal finance.

Departmental requirements for the Corporate Finance Major:

•  Finance Core - 19 hrs.
  • FIN 200 Finance Career Foundations - 3 hrs.
  • ATG 201 Accounting Processes - 1 hr.
  • ATG 301 Intermediate Accounting I - 3 hrs.
  • FIN 322 Business Finance - 3 hrs.
  • FIN 325 Overview of Investment Analysis - 3 hrs.
  • FIN 328 Financial Institutions and Markets - 3 hrs.
  • FIN 422 Financial Analysis - 3 hrs.
•  Corporate Finance Courses - 15 hrs.
  • FIN 327 Derivative Securities - 3 hrs.
  • FIN 425 Portfolio Theory and Management - 3 hrs.
  • FIN 426 Financial Research and Modeling - 3 hrs.
  • FIN 494 Financial Strategy -3 hrs.
  • ECO 419 Introduction to Econometrics - 3 hrs.
    • or Q M 426 Business Forecasting - 3 hrs.
    • or Q M 464 Decision Support Systems - 3 hrs.
•  Additional requirements - 7 hrs.
  • MTH 115 Brief Calculus with Applications - 4 hrs.
  • Students complete Q M 263 as their Foster College Core Quantitative-Skill Building course

Typical Course Sequence

For a four-year course plan for each major in the Foster College of Business, go to:http://www.bradley.edu/academic/colleges/fcba/.

Actuarial Science – Business Major

A career in actuarial science is widely recognized as one of the most attractive professions available to college graduates. Actuaries apply a unique set of business and mathematical skills in solving financial and social problems. Examples of organizations employing actuaries include insurance companies, consulting firms, public utilities, and select regulatory agencies.

The actuarial science major is a cooperative effort between the Economics Department and the Department of Mathematics and is based on the premise that successful actuaries have mastered essential business and risk management and insurance knowledge along with specific actuarial mathematics skills.

The objective of Bradley’s actuarial science-business program is to prepare majors for successful careers as actuaries. Several required courses will help students prepare for some of the standard actuarial exams administered by the Society of Actuaries (SOA) and the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS).

A list of the program requirements is provided below, along with a recommended course sequence for actuarial science-business (ASB) majors.

Departmental requirements for an Actuarial Science – Business Major

• Complete the business core, substituting MTH 325 for QM 262 and substituting MTH 326 for the "Quantitative Skill Building" course, respectively.

Actuarial Science Business (ASB) requirements

• All students must successfully complete the following courses:
  • MTH 121 Calculus I
  • MTH 122 Calculus II
  • MTH 223 Calculus III
  • MTH 207 Elementary Linear Algebra with applications
  • MTH 325 Probability and Statistics I
  • MTH 326 Probability and Statistics II
  • MTH 335 Topics in Actuarial Science
  • MTH 335 Topics in Actuarial Science (repeated under different topics)
  • MTH 427 Applied Statistical Methods
• All students must successfully complete one "programming" course chosen from:
  • MIS 175 introduction to Developing Business Applications
  • CS 100 Introduction to Programming Concepts and Languages
  • CS 101 Introduction to Programming
  • CIS 102 Introduction to Computer Information Systems With Basic
• All students must successfully complete one "tools" course chosen from:
  • QM 426 Business Forecasting
  • QM 464 Decision Support Systems
  • FIN 426 Financial Research and Modeling
  • ECO 419 Introduction to Econometrics
  • MTH 435 Stochastic Processes
  • IME 313 Operations Research 1
• All Students must successfully complete three additional 3-hour courses chosen from:
  • ECO 301 Money and Banking
  • FIN 325 Investment Analysis
  • FIN 327 Derivatives
  • FIN 328 Financial Institutions and Markets
  • FIN 423 Advanced Business Finance
  • FIN 425 Portfolio Theory
  • ASB 315 Risk and Insurance
• All students must sit for at least one professional actuarial exam administered by the Society of Actuaries.

Typical Course Sequence

For a four-year course plan for each major in the Foster College of Business, go to: http://www.bradley.edu/academic/colleges/fcba/.

Minors

Decision Analysis Minor

The minor in Decision Analysis is designed to provide students with a solid foundation of mathematical and quantitative tools essential to sound decision-making. All areas of academic study such as sociology, psychology, and health sciences may benefit from the application of analytical thought. Thus, this program assists students in all majors across campus in formulating optimal solutions to common problems they will encounter in their professional lives. Students enrolled in the Decision Analysis program will acquire the skills to critically evaluate alternative solutions to complex questions in an analytical and pragmatic manner. Upon graduation these students will find themselves better prepared to assume responsible positions of authority and to perform their professional duties in a resourceful and productive manner.

In addition to the University requirements and those imposed by the student’s college, a minor in Decision Analysis must complete the following or their equivalents:

Required:

• QM 262 - Quantitative Analysis I
• QM 263 - Quantitative Analysis II
• QM 426 - Business Forecasting
• ECO 419 - Introduction to Econometrics

Elective (choose one course from below)

• FIN 425 - Portfolio Theory and Management or FIN 426 - Financial Research & Modeling
• MIS 272 - Business Analytics Software and Applications I
• M L 353 - Operations Management in Organizations
• MTG 341 - Marketing Research I
• QM 464 - Decision Support Systems
• QM 369 - Topics in Quantitative Methods
• QM 498 - Independent Study in Quantitative Methods