Course Descriptions

Undergraduate Level Finance Courses

FIN 095 - MANAGING INDIVIDUAL FINANCES This course introduces students to the processes involved in managing individual finances. It is intended to provide practical tools that enable the development of personal financial plans and the management of personal finances. Specific topics include: investments (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc.), credit cards, loans, income and expense decision making, analyzing property acquisition (housing, cars, etc.), tax issues, and retirement/investment planning.
3 Credit hours

FIN 101 - CORPORATE FINANCE
A study of the finance function in corporate decision making. Topics include analysis of the time value of money, capital budgeting, risk and return, the acquisition and allocation of capital, and the special problems associated with international financial decision making.
Prerequisites: ACCT 042, IS 044, STAT 071 or MATH 070 or STAT/MATH 130, ECON 002, and either MATH 020 or MATH 028
3 credit hours

FIN 102 - ADVANCED CORPORATE FINANCE
This course provides a rigorous reexamination, extension and application of topics covered in FIN 101. Special emphasis is given to capital budgeting complications, real options in a capital budgeting context, capital structure, and dividend policy.
Prerequisites: FIN 101, MATH 028, STAT 072 or STAT/MATH 130, and IS 044 or equivalent
3 credit hours

FIN 119 - FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, INSTRUMENTS & MARKETS

Coverage of fixed-income securities, the financial institutions that hold them, the global markets in which they trade.  Topics include but are not limited to: interest rate theory; economic theories of the yield curve; yield spread analysis; duration; convexity; the role of financial intermediation; the use of fixed income securities by intermediaries; treasury, corporate, and municipal bond markets; mortgage markets, and securitization.
Prerequisites: FIN 101
3 credit hours

FIN 121 - INTRODUCTION TO DERIVATIVES
Derivatives and their use in managing risk; forwards, futures, options, swaps; hedging and speculative strategies based on options; option pricing; Black-Scholes formula + Option Greeks.
Prerequisites: FIN 119, STAT 071 or STAT/MATH 130 or (ACTS/MATH 131 concurrent allowed), MATH 028 or higher, FIN 101 or ACTS 120
3 credit hours

FIN 129 - FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS MANAGEMENT
A study of the finance function within commercial banks and related non-bank institutions. Topics include banking structure and regulation, the analysis of bank financial statements, modern techniques of asset/liability management, the lending function, capitalization, and the internationalization of the industry.
Prerequisites: FIN 101
3 credit hours

FIN 150 - INTRO to FINTECH
This course provides foundational concepts, terminologies, and skills used in FinTech. This course covers various new technologies that are disrupting the financial industry such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, financial big data analysis, blockchain technology, roboadvising, digital payment systems, program trading, etc.
Prerequisites: FIN 101
3 credit hours

FIN 170 - INTERNATIONAL FINANCE
Topics in international finance of relevance to international business majors. Topics typically include the balance of payments, currency valuation and fluctuation, international capital markets, financial instruments arising in international trade, multinational business finance, international banking, and student-chosen topics.
Prerequisites: FIN 101
3 credit hours

FIN 190 - EQUITY VALUATION & ANALYSIS
Students are admitted upon recommendation by the Finance faculty.
3 credit hours

FIN 193 - PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS
Topics in portfolio selection and management, including the Markowitz E-V efficient model, Sharp Index model, capital market equilibrium, arbitrage pricing, and performance evaluation.
Prerequisites: FIN 101, FIN 102, FIN 119
3 credit hours

FIN 197 - SEMINAR IN FINANCE
Capstone course in the undergraduate finance program featuring the application of financial principles. The course should be taken at the end of the finance program. Topics may include but are not limited to financial forecasting and working capital management, capital budgeting and cost of capital, capital structure, and dividend policy, corporate financing, financial restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, firm valuation, international finance, derivative security analysis, and security valuation.
Prerequisites: Senior standing, FIN 102, FIN 119, and one of FIN 121, FIN 190 or FIN 193
3 credit hours

FIN 198 - SPECIAL TOPICS IN FINANCE
Timely or innovative course in finance. Not scheduled regularly.
3 credit hours

FIN 199 - INDEPENDENT STUDY
Individual advanced study and research under faculty supervision.
1 to 8 credit hours

Graduate Level Finance Courses

MFM 212 - DATA ANALYSIS & DECISION MAKING
Statistical concepts and market returns; probability; common probability distributions; sampling and estimation; hypothesis testing; correlation and regression; multiple regression.
Prerequisites: Consent of the Assistant Dean, Graduate Programs, Zimpleman College of Business
3 credit hours

MBA/MFM 253 - ENHANCING FIRM VALUE
This course introduces students to the techniques used in the financial management of the firm to achieve the goal of enhancing firm value through firm value maximization. As students develop the ability to utilize the tools of financial management they will engage in an additional discussion of the relationship between firm value maximization and the long-run sustainability of both the firm and the community in which it operates.
Prerequisites: MBA 242 or equivalent, graduate standing and consent of Assistant Dean, Graduate Programs, Zimpleman College of Business
3 credit hours

FIN 230 - INDEPENDENT STUDY
1 to 3 credit hours

FIN 280 - INVESTMENT ANALYSIS & PORTFOLIO MGMT
This course covers selected investment topics and advanced portfolio management techniques. Topics include modern developments in asset pricing, portfolio theory, analysis and valuation of equity and fixed income securities and analysis of alternative investments such as options and investment companies.
Prerequisites: FIN 101 and consent of the Director, Graduate Programs, Zimpleman College of Business
3 credit hours

FIN 281 - FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, MARKETS & MGMT
This course provides an overview of the financial industry and financial markets, with special reference to bank management. Topics include financial institutions, the regulatory environment, the role of financial markets and the determination of prices and yields on financial securities.
Prerequisites: FIN 101 and consent of the Director, Graduate Programs, Zimpleman College of Business
3 credit hours

FIN 284 - ANALYSIS OF FIXED INCOME SECURITIES AND RELATED DERIVATIVES
The class will present an in-depth examination of the markets in which fixed income securities and related derivatives trade; the application of both types of securities by market participants; the economic laws that determine their value; and their application of risk management.
Prerequisites: MBA 253 and MBA 242
3 credit hours

FIN 285 - EQUITY VALUATION
In this course, students will apply their knowledge of the firm, the industry, and the economy to estimate the value that managers have created and are expected to create in the future. Student will gain the ability to value a business, or more precisely, value a share of the business's common stock. The goal of the valuation is to determine a firm's intrinsic value with a focus on long-term value creation, and not on short-term speculation.
Prerequisites: MFM 212 or MBA 255, MBA/MFM 253, graduate standing and consent of the Assistant Dean, Graduate Programs, Zimpleman College of Business
3 credit hours

FIN 286 - RISK MANAGEMENT & FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
This course is designed to introduce students to the sources of risk impacting financial institutions and an in-depth analysis of current methods used by financial institutions to measure and manage those risks. The course will focus on the integration of risk management across business lines to develop comprehensive risk management policy for the institution and the application of the policy to strategic decisions impacting both short-run and long-run operations of the institution.
Prerequisites: MFM 212 or MBA 255, MBA/MFM 253, graduate standing and consent of the Assistant Dean, Graduate Programs, Zimpleman College of Business
3 credit hours

FIN 288 - FUTURES, OPTIONS, & SWAPS
This course is designed to provide an in-depth analysis of future, option, and swap contracts as well as an introduction to other derivative instruments. The class will address the markets and mechanisms in which derivatives trade, the valuation of specific derivative assets, and the application of derivatives to the financial management of firms.
Prerequisites: MFM 212 or MBA 255, MBA/MFM 253, graduate standing and consent of the Assistant Dean, Graduate Programs, Zimpleman College of Business

FIN 298 - CURRENT ISSUES IN FINANCE
Special topics seminar. Topics vary.
Prereq: Consent of the Director, Graduate Programs, Zimpleman College of Business
3 credit hours