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Finance

  • Bachelor of Science
  • Minor
Finance Program student listening to a professor

The Finance Program

Finance is the art and science of managing money. By studying finance, you gain an understanding of how the capital markets and systems interact and use that information to make sound financial decisions. The major in Finance provides students with strong finance fundamentals but allows them to deepen their studies in one of four academic tracks (corporate finance, investment management, behavioral finance and computational finance). By their senior year, students refine their studies towards data analytics, sitting for the CFA or CFP exams, the psychology of investing, or the mathematics of investing.

Undergraduate Programs

What Can I Do With a Major in Finance?

Graduates will be well suited to begin careers at investment-specific firms or finance departments of any business. In addition, students may pursue continued education through master's or Ph.D. programs.

  • The McKenna School’s finance major is one of the few undergraduate programs in the United States with a curriculum that provides the advanced training necessary to pass the CFA Level I Exam and the CFP Certification Exam.
  • The McKenna School offers SAP Business One certification. SAP’s comprehensive business software suite is utilized by thousands of prominent world class companies such as Kennametal Inc., Heinz Corporation, KPMG, Latrobe Specialty Steel Co. and Siemens.
  • Examples of the jobs that our students can acquire include Corporate & Institutional Banking, Investment Manager, Derivatives Analyst, Lean Operations Facilitator, Financial Analyst and Operations Specialist.

Curriculum Requirements

  • Requirements for a Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance

    The Business and College Core curriculum is required for all five tracks:

    Business core (44 credits)
    BA 100 Financial Accounting I (freshman year) - 3 credits
    BA 170 Organizational Behavior (freshman year) - 3 credits
    BA 220 Principles of Marketing (sophomore year) - 3 credits
    BA 265 Management Information Systems (sophomore year) - 3 credits
    BA 305 Business Ethics (junior year preferred) - 3 credits
    BA 320 Corporate Finance I (sophomore year) - 3 credits
    BA 340 Business Law (junior year) - 3 credits
    BA 350 Statistics I and BA 350A Excel Lab (sophomore year) - 4 credits
    BA 351 Statistics II and BA 351A Excel Lab - 4 credits
        or EC 360 Econometrics (sophomore year) - 3 credits
    BA 495 Business Policy and Strategy (senior year) - 3 credits
    EC 101 Principles of Microeconomics (freshman year) - 3 credits
    EC 102 Principles of Macroeconomics (freshman year) - 3 credits
    PS 100 Principles of American Politics - 3 credits
    MA 109/111 Calculus I (freshman year) - 4 credits
    BA 00P ePortfolio Requirement - 0 credit

    Finance Major Requirements: Corporate Finance Track  (31 credits)

    • BA 101 Financial Accounting II (freshman year)
    • BA 200 Intermediate Accounting I
    • BA 321 Corporate Finance II
    • BA 324 Advanced Personal Finance
    • BA 325 Analysis of Financial Statements
    • BA 351 Statistics II and BA 351A Excel Lab
    • BA 353/EC 353 International Finance
    • BA 362 Investments I: Securities
    • BA 363 Investments II: Derivatives
    • BA 385 Financial Institutions

    Finance Major Requirements: Computational Finance Track with Math Minor (44 credits)

    • BA 101 Financial Accounting II (freshman year)
    • BA 353/EC 353 International Finance
    • BA 351 Statistics II and BA 351A Excel Lab
    • BA 362 Investments I: Securities
    • BA 363 Investments II: Derivatives
    • BA 367 Investments III: Alternative Assets
    • BA 385 Financial Institutions
    • BA 488 Portfolio Theory
    • MA 112 Calculus II (freshman year)
    • MA 211 Calculus III
    • MA 212 Ordinary and Partial Differential Equations
    • MA 251 Linear Algebra
    • MA 421 Real Analysis I

    Note: Students planning to seek a Ph.D. or Masters in Finance should strongly consider doing the computational finance trace, Real Analysis II, Econometrics, Intermediate Microeconomics, Advanced Microeconomics and Game Theory.

    Finance Major Requirements: Investment Management Track CFA (31 credits)

    • BA 101 Financial Accounting II (freshman year)
    • BA 324 Advanced Personal Finance
    • BA 351 Statistics II and BA 351A Excel Lab
    • BA 353/EC 353 International Finance
    • BA 362 Investments I: Securities
    • BA 363 Investments II: Derivatives
    • BA 367 Investments III: Alternative Assets
    • BA 385 Financial Institutions
    • BA 485 Financial Planning and Analysis
    • BA 488 Portfolio Theory

    Finance Major Requirements: Investment Management Track CFP (40 credits)

    • BA 101 Financial Accounting II (Freshman year)
    • BA 310 Taxes I
    • BA 311 Taxes II
    • BA 324 Advanced Personal Financial Planning
    • BA 351 Statistics II and BA 351A Excel Lab
    • BA 353/EC 353 International Finance
    • BA 362 Investments I: Securities
    • BA 363 Investments II: Derivatives
    • BA 367 Investments III: Alternative Assets
    • BA 385 Financial Institutions
    • BA 484 Risk Management
    • BA 485 Financial Planning and Analysis
    • BA 488 Portfolio Theory

    Finance Major Requirements: Behavioral Finance Track with Psychology Minor (46 credits)

    • BA 101 Financial Accounting II (freshman year)
    • BA 324 Advanced Personal Finance
    • BA 351 Statistics II and BA 351A Excel Lab
    • BA 353/EC 353 International Finance
    • BA 362 Investments I: Securities
    • BA 363 Investments II: Derivatives
    • BA 367 Investments III: Alternative Assets
    • BA 385 Financial Institutions
    • BA 488 Portfolio Theory
    • PY 100 Introduction to Psychology
    • PY 243 Abnormal Psychology
    • PY 244 Theories of Personality
    • PY 260 Social Psychology
    • PY 308 Cognitive Psychology
    • PY 309 Learning

  • Requirements for a Dual Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance and Mathematics

    Finance and Mathematics Major Requirements - B.S.  

    Business Core (45 credits)
    BA  100 Financial Accounting I (freshman year) - 3 credits
    BA  170 Organizational Behavior (freshman year) - 3 credits
    BA  220   Principles of Marketing (2nd semester freshman year) - 3 credits
    BA  265  Management Information Systems (sophomore year) - 3 credits
    BA  305   Business Ethics (junior year preferred) - 3 credits
    BA  320   Corporate Finance I (sophomore year) - 3 credits
    BA  340   Business Law (junior year) - 3 credits
    BA  350   Statistics I (sophomore year)/BA 350A Excel Lab - 4 credits
    BA 351  Statistics II  (sophomore year)/BA 351A Excel Lab - 4 credits or    
         EC 360 Econometrics (sophomore year) - 3 credits  
    BA  495   Business Policy and Strategy (senior year) - 3 credits
    EC  101   Principles of Microeconomics (freshmen year) - 3 credits
    EC  102   Principles of Macroeconomics (freshmen year) - 3 credits
    PS  100   Principles of American Politics - 3 credits
    MA 111 Calculus I (freshman year) - 4 credits
    BA 00P ePortfolio Requirement (semester of graduation--pass/fail)    0

    Finance -- Computational Finance Track (25 credits)    
    MA 112 Calculus II (freshman year) - 4 credits
    BA 101 Financial Accounting II (freshman year) - 3 credits
    BA/EC 353 International Finance - 3 credits
    BA 362 Investments I: Securities - 3 credits
    BA 363 Investments II: Derivatives - 3 credits
    BA 385 Financial Institutions - 3 credits
    BA 488 Portfolio Theory - 3 credits
    BA 489 Valuations and Modeling - 3 credits

    Mathematics Requirements (32 credits)    
    MA 211  Calculus III - 4 credits
    MA 212  Ordinary & Partial Differential Equations - 4 credits
    MA 251  Linear Algebra - 3 credits
    MA 321  Complex Variables - 3 credits  
    MA 421  Real Analysis I - 4 credits
    MA 422 Real Analysis II - 4 credits
    PH 111  General Physics I - 3 credits
    PH 113  General Physics I Lab - 1 credit
    PH 112  General Physics II - 3 credits
    PH 114  General Physics II Lab - 1 credit 
    CS 110  Computer Science I - 3 credits

  • Requirements for a Minor in Finance

    Finance Minor Requirements

    Finance Minor—Required courses
    BA 100 Financial Accounting I - 3 credits
    BA 320 Corporate Finance I - 3 credits
    BA 362 Investments: Securities - 3 credits
    BA 363 Investments: Derivatives - 3 credits

    In addition to the above, any two of the following:
    BA 321 Corporate Finance II - 3 credits
    BA 325 Analysis of Financial Statements - 3 credits
    BA 353/EC353* International Finance - 3 credits
    BA 385 Financial Institutions - 3 credits
    BA 484 Risk Management - 3 credits
    BA 485 CFA Review Level I - 3 credits
    BA 488 Portfolio Theory - 3 credits
    BA 489 Valuations and Modeling - 3 credits

    * BA 353/EC 353 does not count for International Business majors.

Job Placements and Careers

  • Job Placements and Internships

    Our students have secured jobs and internships in several areas of finance and related fields. Some include:

    Avpro

    AXA Advisors

    Axon

    Bank of America

    Blue Chip Financial Group

    BNY Mellon

    Citizens Bank

    Comity Land

    Demming Financial Services

    Duncan Financial Group

    Enterprise Bank

    Evoqua Water Technologies

    Federated Investors

    First Commonwealth Bank

    First Energy

    First National Bank

    Hefren Tillotson (now Baird)

    Herbein and Company

    JP Morgan Chase

    KeyBank

    Levin Furniture

    Merrill Lynch

    Northwestern

    Pioneer B1 (SAP)

    PNC

    PPG

    PTC Alliance

    Robindale Energy

    SEI Investments

    Stanley Black & Decker

    State Farm

    Walnut Capital Management

    Wlsely Industrial Group

     

    Masters Programs:

    Villanova University, MS in Finance

    Saint Vincent College, MSMOE

    University of Connecticut, PhD in Fniance

    University of Pittsburgh, MPA at GSPIA

  • Career Options

    There are many career options in finance including:

    Commercial Banking

    Investment Banking

    Financial Advisor

    Financial Analyst

    Finance Department (any business)

    Private Equity

    Retail Investment

    Graduate School

Accreditation

The McKenna School of Business has seven undergraduate programs and one graduate program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP). They are: Accounting, Business Education Information Technology, Business Economics, Finance, International Business, Economics, Management, Marketing and the Master of Science in Management: Operational Excellence graduate program. Three programs in Business Data Analytics (launched Fall 2020), Sports Management (launched Fall 2021) and Business Administration (launched Fall 2021) are in candidacy for accreditation. ACBSP Accreditation

With a requirement for faculty professional development (e.g., publications and research) and courses primarily taught by faculty holding doctorates, the ACBSP is the leading business accreditation program devoted to teaching excellence and service to students. Attributable to our ACBSP accreditation, students receive in depth knowledge in 12 business core competency areas: Accounting, Management, Business Ethics, Marketing, Information Systems, Business Finance, the Legal Environment of Business, Statistics, Business Policies, Economics, Quantitative Skills and Global Dimensions in Business. 

The McKenna School is also a member of the Middle Atlantic Association of Colleges of Business Administration. The Politics and Criminal Justice programs are not accredited through the ACBSP; however, all programs in the McKenna School have regional accreditation through the Middle States Association. The ACBSP is one of the two premier accrediting agencies for business schools worldwide.

Distinctive Features of McKenna School's Finance Major

  • Students complete the CFA Level I curriculum.
  • CFP designated Business School.
  • Finance job placements are exceptional. Since 2013, we have had 100 percent placement within 3 months of graduation. The Class of 2018 had 16 out of 16 graduates successfully placed within 1 week of graduation at a median starting salary of $60,000.
  • Rankings: The McKenna business seniors score exceptionally well on the ETS national undergraduate business field test. Out of 496 accredited (i.e., ACBSP and AACSB) business schools, we ranked overall in the top 19.8% of the nation in 2018. In finance, the McKenna School finished the in the top 15.0% of the nation in 2018.
  • Students use Morningstar financial analysis software in finance classes.
  • Attributable to our ACBSP accreditation, students receive in depth knowledge in 12 business core competency areas: Accounting, Management, Business Ethics, Marketing, Information Systems, Business Finance, the Legal Environment of Business, Statistics, Business Policies, Economics, Quantitative Skills and Global Dimensions in Business.  
  • Students may join Women in Business, the Accounting Club, Pizza and Politics Club, the Finance Club, the OE Club, and Delta Mu Delta (the national Greek honor society for business majors). 

Faculty

Nicholas Racculia
Professor of Finance
nicholas.racculia@stvincent.edu 

Christian Kalhoefer
Professor of Finance
christian.kalhoefer@stvincent.edu 

Mark Abramovic
Instructor of Finance
mark.abramovic@stvincent.edu 

Jayme Meredith
Adjunct
jayme.meredith@stvincent.edu 

David Riehl
Adjunct
david.riehl@stvincent.edu 

Gregory Forsythe
Adjunct
gregory.forsythe@stvincent.edu 

Joseph Yezovich
Adjunct
joseph.yezovich@stvincent.edu 

Undergraduate Programs
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