The Department of Economics, Business, and Finance offers majors and minors in Economics, Business, and Finance. Students cannot double major, double minor, or have both a major and a minor within the Department. Each major also allows students to complete an area of concentration, but students are not required to do so.
As of March 2021, international students who major in Economics have the ability to apply for the Optional Practice Training Extension for STEM (OPT-STEM) in order to receive 36 rather than 12 months of OPT; however, due to federal policy, OPT-STEM is not available to students majoring in Business or Finance.
The Department enacted new major and minor requirements, including new requirements for concentrations, in Summer/Fall 2022. The new requirements apply to all students who started at the College after the Spring 2022 semester. Students who started at the College in the Spring 2022 semester or before can complete the new requirements or the previous set of requirements. (See the left navigation bar for the requirements before Summer/Fall 2022.)
Students are not allowed to count more than 15 credits, exclusive of internship credits, from the department combined across all three prefixes (BUSN, ECON, or FIN) toward graduation. Students may appeal to the Chair of the Department for exceptions to this policy.
Courses taken toward a major in Economics, Business, or Finance cannot be taken Pass-NoPass, with the exception that MATH 108 and 109 or MATH 110 must carry an assigned grade of at least C-, even if it is listed as Pass on the transcript. There are no Pass-NoPass limits for minors.
MAJOR IN FINANCE
At least 13.5 credits
Pre-Core Requirements (3.5 credits)
Students majoring in Finance must complete all of the courses listed below, each with a C- or better.
ECON 110 Principles of Economics
FIN 130 Applied Statistics
Either MATH 108 Calculus 1a & MATH 109 Calculus 1b or MATH 110 Calculus I
COLL 150 Data Analytics Using Excel (0.5 credits)
Core Requirements (6 credits)
Students majoring in Finance must complete all of the courses listed below, each with a C- or better.
BUSN 230 Financial Accounting
ECON 210 Microeconomic Theory
ECON 220 Macroeconomic Theory
FIN 210 Financial Management
FIN 310 Corporate Finance
FIN 320 Investments
Elective Requirements (3 credits)
Students majoring in Finance must complete three courses at the 300-level subject to the following conditions for each of the three electives:
- One elective must have a FIN prefix.
- One elective must either have a FIN prefix or come from the following list:
BUSN 330 Intermediate Accounting
BUSN 331 Managerial Accounting
ECON 313 Money and Banking
ECON 330 Econometrics
- One elective must either have a FIN prefix, be listed in requirement (2) above, or come from the following list:
BUSN/FIN 250 Business Information Systems
HIST 369 Capitalism: A Global History
MATH 240 Introduction to Computational Math
MATH 250 Introduction to Statistical Programming
PHIL 203 Business Ethics
PHIL 325 Major Ethical Theories
RELG 232 Religion and Capitalism
Senior Studies Requirement (1 credit)
Students majoring in Finance must complete either one course at the 400-level with a FIN prefix or complete a senior thesis with a FIN prefix.
Concentrations for Finance Majors (optional)
Students who major in Finance can elect to complete the general major, or they can elect to also complete one concentration (Accounting or Economics) within the major. Students intending to complete a concentration must file a Declaration of Major form with the Registrar’s Office indicating this intent.
Concentration in Accounting for Finance Majors
At least 15.5 credits are required to complete a Concentration in Accounting along with the Finance major.
In order to obtain a Concentration in Accounting, while completing all of the requirements for the Finance major listed above, students must:
- Complete three classes from the following list:
BUSN 328 Accounting for Nonprofit Entities
BUSN 330 Intermediate Accounting
BUSN 331 Managerial Accounting
BUSN 332 Auditing
BUSN 333 Cost Accounting
BUSN 334 Financial Accounting with QuickBooks
BUSN 335 Intermediate Accounting II
BUSN 430 Federal Tax Accounting
- Use at most one of the three classes taken to satisfy (1) to satisfy the elective requirements for the Finance major.
Concentration in Economics for Finance Majors
At least 15.5 credits are required to complete a Concentration in Economics along with the Finance major.
In order to obtain a Concentration in Economics, while completing all of the requirements for the Finance major listed above, students must:
- Complete three 300-level classes with an ECON prefix.
- Use at most one of the three classes taken to satisfy the elective requirements for the Finance major.
MINOR IN FINANCE
At least 6 credits
Students majoring in Business or Economics cannot complete a minor in Finance. In order to complete a minor in Finance, students must complete the requirements set forth below.
Pre-Core Requirements (2 credits)
ECON 110 Principles of Economics
FIN 130 Applied Statistics
Core Requirements (3 credits)
BUSN 230 Financial Accounting
FIN 210 Financial Management
Either FIN 310 Corporate Finance or FIN 320 Investments
Elective Requirements (1 credit)
One 200-level or higher course with an ECON or FIN prefix
Transfer Credit Guide
A guide listing the finance requirements that can be satisfied by courses at community colleges near Lake Forest.