Finance

Career potential

Professionals in finance use their expertise in financial management, accounting, economics, mathematics and statistics to help run successful businesses. By studying finance, you may become a budget analyst, financial planner or financial manager for a business, government agency or nonprofit organization. You may work for a brokerage house as a stockbroker or you could own a private practice.

Studying finance could prepare you for a career in bank administration and management. These careers may require you to earn a Master of Business Administration degree in accounting, finance, insurance, marketing or real estate. About 25 percent of UNT finance students enter graduate school.

UNT's Career Center can help you prepare to pursue your career. The center has information about jobs and employers, and the staff can help you with resume and letter writing, job search strategies, and interview preparation.

Majoring in finance

The College of Business is accredited by AACSB International — The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (777 South Harbour Island Blvd., Suite 750, Tampa, Fla. 33602-5730, telephone 813-769-6500). This accreditation the college has passed strict academic standards for excellence in education. UNT offers a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a professional field in finance.

The finance program includes professional field electives in investments, corporate finance, financial institutions, risk management, real estate finance and corporate law. While studying in these areas, you may take courses in corporate finance, international financial systems and foreign exchange, investments, liquidity and working capital management, and the U.S. banking system. You also may study corporation law and risk management, employee benefit programs, life insurance, management of financial institutions, and real estate investments. UNT's finance program will give you a good theoretical base as well as practical, applicable knowledge that can be used immediately in business.

Most faculty members in the Department of Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Law have business experience in the area they teach. They are dedicated teachers and recognized scholars. Three faculty members were named Regents Professors for outstanding teaching and research. Regents Professors devote at least half of their teaching load to introductory-level courses. Other professors have won teaching awards and written books in the field.

The department offers scholarships to full-time students who have completed at least one semester at UNT and have a high grade point average.

Getting hands-on experience

As a finance student, you may earn course credit working as an intern in the field. The faculty will help you find an internship. Interested finance students should contact the department for specific information.

After completing 12 semester hours at UNT with at least a 2.5 GPA, you may work in a job related to your major through UNT's Cooperative Education and Internships office. This allows you to earn academic credit and money, and gain valuable work experience.

You may also want to apply your classroom knowledge to real world practice by participating in the Student Investment Group (SIG). SIG is open to all UNT students and manages an investment portfolio of nearly $300,000 with the supervision of a finance faculty sponsor.

Preparing for UNT

If you are a high school student, we suggest you prepare for college by becoming computer proficient and taking:

• English … 4 years
• Math … 4 years
• Social science — economics, geography, government, history … 4 years
• Science … 3 years
• Foreign language … 3 years
• Fine arts … 1 year

You will need to take courses in most of these subjects under the university core curriculum required of all undergraduates, in addition to your major courses. Talk with your high school counselor about preparing for college, including the entrance exams (SAT Reasoning Test or ACT) you should take during your junior year.

Taking high school courses in accounting and speech, as well as advanced courses in math and English, will be beneficial.

As a benefit for transfer students, UNT participates in the Texas Common Course Numbering System. This system makes it easier to transfer credits for general academic courses from one Texas institution to another.

If you're attending a Texas community college, you should consult the UNT Transfer Guide, the UNT Undergraduate Catalog and an academic advisor/ counselor to discuss your degree plan. Proper planning will help you receive the maximum amount of transfer credits.

Charting your path through academic advising

Full-time staff advisors in the College of Business will help you each semester to select the courses you will need to earn your degree. In addition, the student advisor for the Department of Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Law provides career advice.

The College of Business' academic advising office is in the Business Administration Building, Room 123. The Department of Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Law department office is in Room 177.

Curious about courses and other features of this major?
See the current catalog.