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Finance Courses

FIN 150: Financial Literacy

Credits: 4.0
Level: UG

Financial literacy is designed to help students understand their personal financial lives. Students will be exposed to how to make everyday decisions (e.g., rent/buy a house or lease/own a car) as well as understand credit cards, student loans, consumer purchasing decisions, insurance, and other financial decisions.


FIN 301: Introduction to Finance

Credits: 4.0
Level: UG

Covers financial structure of a corporation, short-and long-term financial policies, sources and uses of capital funds, asset valuation, capital budgeting, and corporate growth.


FIN 302: Intermediate Corporate Finance

Credits: 4.0
Level: UG

Provides an in-depth treatment of long-term financing decisions, including estimation of the cost of capital, financial leverage, dividend policy, and working capital analysis.


FIN 321: Investment Securities & Markets

Credits: 4.0
Level: UG

Covers stocks, bonds, other investment vehicles, and operation and regulation of the stock market.


FIN 323: Risk Management

Credits: 4.0
Level: UG

Provides a fundamental understanding of risk and return, modern portfolio theory, asset pricing models, performance evaluation, and the use of derivatives to hedge and manage risk.


FIN 325: Financial Institutions and Markets

Credits: 4.0
Level: UG

Covers understanding of the financial system from the money-creation process to the functioning of the Federal Reserve System to the role and management of financial institutions.


FIN 332: Investment Analysis

Credits: 4.0
Level: UG

Introduces investment analysis, with particular emphasis on financial statement analysis.


FIN 335: Entrepreneurial Finance

Credits: 4.0
Level: UG

The purpose of the course is to bring financial management decision, tools and techniques typically applied in corporate contexts into the realm of entrepreneurship. This course presents the importance of understanding and applying entrepreneurial finance methods and tools to help ensure a successful venture.


FIN 339: Fintech

Credits: 4.0
Level: UG

This course examines the growing FinTech industry, which is short-hand for Financial Technology. FinTech is defined as the set of new technologies and innovations in the delivery of financial services. The course will compare these innovations to their more traditional counterparts considering both the benefits of these FinTech innovations, as well as their limitations.


FIN 341: Applied Portfolio Management

Credits: 4.0
Level: UG

This course covers topics related to portfolio management. Students will learn how to analyze industries, select securities for inclusion in investment portfolios, and analyze portfolio performance. Students will participate in the management of a real investment portfolio for the duration of the course.


FIN 342: Advanced Portfolio Management

Credits: 4.0
Level: UG

This course covers advanced topics related to portfolio management. Students will learn how to analyze industries and the investment potential of individual securities in depth. They will also learn advanced methods for analyzing portfolio performance and investment strategy. Students will participate in the management of a real investment portfolio for the duration of the course.


FIN 345: Mergers & Acquisitions

Credits: 4.0
Level: UG

The purpose of this course is to guide students to a better understanding of mergers (forming a new company by combining with another firm) and acquisitions (purchasing another firm) from the perspective of a corporation. Students will analyze the process in which one firm identifies potential other firms to take over and how to calculate the value of these firms. Further, student will be exposed to additional issues that arise when corporations undertake mergers and acquisitions.


FIN 346: Global Financial Management

Credits: 4.0
Level: UG

Examines the investment and financing strategies of multinational corporations. Covers topics including capital acquisition in the international environment, international investment borrowing, international corporate restructuring, currency swaps and recapitalizations, hedging techniques, and international risk-management instruments.


FIN 601: Corporate Financial Management

Credits: 3.0
Level: GR

The objective of this course is to develop the intuition and tools to analyze corporate financial decisions. The topics to be covered include the time value of money, capital budgeting, stock and bond valuation, the link between risk and return, the cost of capital, and business valuation.


FIN 602: Advanced Financial Management

Credits: 3.0
Level: GR

Provides an in-depth treatment of long-term financing decisions, including estimation of the cost of capital, financial leverage, dividend policy, and capital structure determination.


FIN 605: Business Valuation

Credits: 3.0
Level: GR

This course provides a framework to understand value creation and maximization. The primary focus is on the valuation of equity in a public corporation, but the methods also apply to the valuation of private companies and small businesses. Topics include the analysis and projection of financial performance and the application of discounted cash flow and price-multiple valuation models.


FIN 610: Corporate Governance

Credits: 3.0
Level: GR

Corporate governance determines how strategic financial decisions are made in a firm. Topics include how incentives are set for executives in compensation contracts; the role of external constituents such as regulators, security analysts, and activist investors; the structure and purpose of the board of directors; and the consideration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors on corporate structure and policy. The course will explore the success and failure of strategic decisions and the role governance plays in shaping them. The material will be delivered via lecture, student-driven discussion, and real-world case analysis.


FIN 622: Financial Institutions & Markets

Credits: 3.0
Level: GR

Analyzes the economic functions of financial markets and intermediaries. Examines monetary policy formation and its impact on financial markets.


FIN 624: Risk Management

Credits: 3.0
Level: GR

Provides a fundamental understanding of risk and return, modern portfolio theory, asset pricing models, performance evaluation, and the use of derivatives to hedge and manage risk.


FIN 626: Investment Management

Credits: 3.0
Level: GR

Covers theoretical and analytical frameworks used to value securities such as common stocks and bonds.


FIN 635: Entrepreneurial Finance

Credits: 3.0
Level: GR

The purpose of the course is to bring financial management decision, tools and techniques typically applied in corporate contexts into the realm of entrepreneurship. This course presents the importance of understanding and applying entrepreneurial finance methods and tolls to help ensure a successful venture.


FIN 645: Behavioral Finance

Credits: 3.0
Level: GR

This course provides an introduction to the topic of behavioral finance. Much of traditional economics and finance is based on market participants and managers behaving rationally. However, financial decisions in the laboratory and in the field systematically deviate from rational benchmarks, despite large monetary incentives to get it right. Behavioral finance examines these deviations and their implications for investor welfare and asset prices.


FIN 648: International Financial Management

Credits: 3.0
Level: GR

Uses analytical tools and data to formulate optimal financing and investment strategies in global markets. Analyzes exchange rate determination and international asset price linkages.


FIN 910: Doctoral Seminar in Corporate Governance

Credits: 3.0
Level: GR

Doctoral Seminar on research in Corporate Governance. Topics include board composition, executive compensation, and governance effects on mergers and acquisitions.


FIN 921: Doctoral Seminar in Behavioral Finance

Credits: 3.0
Level: GR

Much of finance research is based on market participants and managers behaving rationally. Financial decisions in the lab and the field systematically deviate from rational benchmarks, despite pecuniary incentives to get it right. Behavioral finance examines these deviations and their implications for welfare and prices. This course provides an introduction to the field for doctoral students in financial economics.


FIN 998: Dissertation Research in Finance

Credits: 1.0-12.0
Level: GR


REMD 110: Introduction to Real Estate Management

Credits: 4.0
Level: UG

Introduces real estate management and its evolution into a multi-billion dollar professional industry. Real estate management topics include career opportunities, operations, finance, marketing, risk management, landlord-tenant laws, and Fair Housing Act. Examines the competencies necessary for operating and managing real estate investment properties, including detailed examination of leadership, operational policies, contract management, and financial aspects of multifamily, office, and industrial properties.


REMD 320: Sustainability in the Built Environment

Credits: 4.0
Level: UG

Integration of sustainable practices in the built environment, including energy and environmental resource efficiencies, are examined and evaluated in the planning, design, development, renovation, construction, and management of real estate investment assets. The impact of resiliency on real estate, community development, and city planning is also examined.


REMD 340: Urban Finance and Environmental Planning

Credits: 4.0
Level: UG

This course has a quantitative focus and covers topics at the intersection of urban finance, city planning, and urban environmental policy. Students interested in careers as developers, planners, elected officials, regulators, and members of nonprofit advocacy groups will learn how to design and evaluate policies that affect the real estate sector of urban economies.


REMD 375: Real Estate Finance

Credits: 4.0
Level: UG

Surveys all methods of financing real estate. Topics covered include funding sources, interest rates; cost of funds; taxation; capitalization rates; mortgages; secondary mortgage markets; governmental financial agencies; leverage and property valuation; and real estate in a portfolio context. Decision-making models, pro-forma analysis, lease valuation, and feasibility analysis for various types of properties are employed.


REMD 410: Real Estate Investment and Asset Management

Credits: 4.0
Level: UG

Examines the fundamentals of finance as it applies to real estate investment and asset management. Identifies the skills necessary to maximize the value of real estate assets through effective operations and financial management practices. Topics include detailed study and analysis of ownership objectives of real estate investors and financial reporting, including acquisitions, dispositions, and new development. Provides tools and decision-making models to manage asset performance, including revenue maximization, property valuation, operating budgets, pro formas, net operating income, cash flow, internal rate of return, and return on investment.


REMD 491: Senior Capstone in Real Estate Management & Development

Credits: 4.0
Level: UG

This course aims to equip students with a working knowledge of the primary strategies used in developing a management plan, including an as-is property analysis, as-is market analysis, financial analysis, and alternative scenarios. Experiential learning occurs throughout the course via strategic in-depth research and analysis of an income-producing property. The course culminates with developing a management plan for a pre-selected income-producing property. Students will work with faculty to design a plan to fulfill their management interests and the broader capstone objectives.


FIN 639: FinTech

Credits: 3.0
Level: GR

This course focuses on the growing area of fintech, defined as the set of new technologies and innovations that strive to compete with traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services. Specific topics include cryptocurrencies, peer-to-peer lending, crowdfunding, initial coin offerings, the technology-based alternatives to personal advising / trading, and regulatory issues. For each, we will consider both the benefits of these ‘fintech’ innovations, as well as their limitations.


FIN I499: Independent Study in FIN

Credits: 0.5-12.0
Level: UG

Self-directed within the area of study requiring intermittent consultation with a designated instructor.


Connect with Us

Thank you for your interest in the Department of Finance. We look forward to hearing from you.

Letta Brown

Department Manager

(215) 895-1743

Gerri C. LeBow Hall 1144