man sittng in lounge with laptop
What does it cost?

Check out our cost calculator or visit Student Financial Services for information on estimated costs.

How long will it take?

The degree requires completion of 120 credit hours. A student can expect to complete the degree in four years by taking 15 credit hours per semester (fall and spring).  Students in the Online B.B.A. Degree Completion Program can apply credits from their associate’s degree or an undergraduate program at another college.

Where can I take classes?
Atlanta Campus, Online (see details*)

*This program is eligible for the Online BBA Completion program (see below).

Application Deadlines View Admissions Requirements

Students may enter the program in the fall, spring, or summer.

Find your deadline

Finance, B.B.A.

For help with the admissions process, contact your admissions counselor.

The B.B.A. in Finance program provides students with a thorough understanding of financial operations in both non-financial and financial businesses as well as a broader understanding of financial markets.

Students learn to develop and implement financial strategies that maximize firm value, understand and apply state-of-the-art analytical financial tools, and analyze and manage financial market risks.

The Department of Finance is noted for its faculty’s outstanding teaching, research, and business experience as well as for its diverse course offerings, ranging from corporate strategy and asset management to fintech and financial data analytics.

Hands-on Opportunities

The Department of Finance prides itself on innovation in the classroom. Students are encouraged to participate in a variety of co-curricular activities and classes to gain practical knowledge, develop networks, hone leadership skills, and learn more about the real world.

Portfolio Management Practicum

FI 4210 – Students join a Portfolio Management Team, which manages a $500,000 stock portfolio donated by Bank of America. Team members meet weekly to make, buy and sell presentations, which the student analysts vote on for inclusion or exclusion from the fund.

Global Portfolio Management

FI 4240 – Students complete three Excel projects to stress the application of portfolio management theory to realistic investment decisions using real-world data. In these projects, students:

  • Choose between different tax-sheltering investment vehicles by creating lifetime annual projected after-tax cash flow tables for a sample client with realistic assumptions regarding salary growth, progressive tax rates, investment returns, and more.
  • Create a four-stock efficient frontier and make an optimal risky portfolio recommendation for a sample client using actual historical data on four specific risky funds.
  • Work with real-world historical data to simulate risky portfolio returns via various simulation techniques and use the simulated return performance in conjunction with various risk measurements to choose among three dynamic investment strategies for a sample investor.

Field Studies in Finance

FI 4391 – This course consists of a supervised, business site learning experience that provides students the opportunity to learn and apply finance skills in a professional setting. The field study is a great way for students to connect classroom learning to the real world.

Fundamentals of Valuation

FI 4000 – Students develop a spreadsheet as though they were analysts submitting a report to the company director or a client. They compile a data set of the daily adjusted closing prices for various firms and, after performing calculations to back up their conclusion, select two stocks offering the greatest benefit in terms of diversification. Students also select two different stocks and plot their investment opportunity, among other Excel-driven processes.

Bloomberg Service Terminals

The Department of Finance provides four Bloomberg terminals for student use. Bloomberg is a specialized computer system utilized by professionals in business (primarily finance) and other industries to access, monitor, and analyze real-time financial market data and place trades on its electronic trading platform. To demonstrate Bloomberg proficiency and differentiate themselves in the competitive job market, all of Robinson’s undergraduate finance majors complete the Bloomberg Essentials certification program. The department also connects students to potential employers by arranging for them to take the Bloomberg Aptitude Test.

Panthers on Wall Street

The Department of Finance actively supports this program, which culminates in a four-day trip to the biggest business hub in the world: Wall Street. Panthers on Wall Street allows students to communicate with high-ranking executives (some who are Robinson alumni) in top firms, experience what they are taught in the classroom in a real-world context, and learn how to conduct themselves in a professional environment.

Atlanta Hedge Fund Challenge

Each year the Department of Finance selects a team for the Atlanta Hedge Fund Challenge, a national business competition that challenges students from regional universities to generate and present their best idea for starting a hedge fund to a panel of real-life investment managers. Regional winners receive $10,000 scholarships.

Private Business Valuation Challenge

The Department of Finance hosts—and enters a team into—this national competition, which provides students the opportunity to assess the stand-alone value of an actual private company. Teams of three to five students analyze a professionally prepared business valuation case under the guidance of an industry mentor, and present their work to valuation professionals. Winners receive a cash prize.

CFA Institute Research Challenge

Each year, the Department of Finance sponsors a team to compete in the CFA Institute Research Challenge, a global competition that provides university students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis. Students work in teams to research and analyze a publicly traded company—sometimes even meeting face-to-face with its management. Each team writes a research report on an assigned company with a buy, sell, or hold recommendation and may be asked to present and defend their analysis to a panel of industry professionals. Robinson students first compete at the regional level against teams from Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama. Winners advance to national and global rounds.

Please note: while every section of the above courses might not include exactly the above projects, faculty incorporate real-world learning into the curriculum.BBA

Honors Track in Finance

Why the honors track?

We offer an honors track in finance that comprises 18 credit hours taken over the course of two semesters. The accelerated curriculum provides Robinson’s most accomplished undergraduate finance majors with a deeper understanding of the discipline, a distinguished skill set, and a strategic advantage throughout their careers.

The rewards of this demanding elective sequence include:

  • Developing enhanced critical thinking, communication, and leadership skills.
  • Engaging in team-based learning as part of a cohort of high-achieving peers.
  • Gaining insider connections to national job markets, top graduate schools and Robinson alumni.
  • Accessing the Signature Programs student lounge located in the Delta Student Success Center.
  • Participating in a signature experience on campus, which is based on students’ interests. Examples include a leadership role in the Finance Society or on the Portfolio Management Team, a finance-based internship, a field study class, representing Robinson in a major competition (such as the CFA Institute Global Investment Challenge), and a senior thesis.

Curriculum

The rigorous 18-hour curriculum covers:

  • Advanced content for financial decision-making
  • Financial spreadsheet modeling
  • Case studies and projects spanning classes and semesters
  • The development of leadership acumen and other soft skills

Course Schedule

The next cohort of the Honors Track in Finance will start in spring 2022 and finish in fall 2022. The courses will meet on Monday and Wednesday between 11:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., and will include additional and accelerated content not offered to other students. There also will be two leadership and career development sessions per semester that focus on critical teamwork, leadership, and career skills.

Spring 2022 | nine credit hours

FI 4000
Fundamentals of Valuation
six hours

FI 4020
Financial Analysis and Introduction to Loan Structuring
three hours

Fall 2022 | nine credit hours

FI 4080
Financial Modeling – Excel
three hours

FI 4320
Corporate Financial Decision Making
three hours

FI 4240
Global Portfolio Management
three hours

Deadlines

Early Action: October 12, 2021
Regular Decision: January 9, 2022

Contact Us

David R. Beard
[email protected]
404-413-7349

Program Details

High School Seniors and Recent Graduates
If you’re a senior in high school or if you graduated from high school within the last two years, you’ll apply to begin your bachelor’s degree program using Georgia State’s Common Application.

Find out more about applying

International students
International applicants are those students who are in the U.S. on a non-immigrant visa (B-1, H-1, J-1, etc.), students who are living outside the U.S. and who will require an F-1 visa to study in the United States, students who are in the process of applying for Permanent Residency status, but have not yet received the Permanent Residency card or students who have been educated outside the U.S.

Learn more about the application process

Transfer students
If you’re already in college but need a change, transferring to Georgia State can provide you with the opportunities you need to succeed — in school and after graduation.

View the details

Required Major Courses

FI 4000 – Fundamentals of Valuation
FI 4020 – Financial Analysis and Introduction to Loan Structuring
FI 4090 – Introduction to Financial Data Analytics
Two additional 4000-level finance courses

Recommended Elective Courses

We recommend the following sets of electives for students students who wish to develop particular expertise in various fields of finance. These are simply suggestions.

Corporate
FI 4300 – Advanced Corporate Finance
FI 4320 – Corporate Financial Decision Making
FI 4200 – Introduction to Derivative Markets
FI 4040 – Foundations in International Finance

Financial Institutions
FI 4400 – Financial Institutions
FI 4420 – The Financial System
FI 4200 – Introduction to Derivative Markets
FI 4040 – Foundations in International Finance

Investment Management
FI 4200 – Introduction to Derivative Markets
FI 4210 – Portfolio Management Practicum
FI 4240 – Global Portfolio Management
FI 4260 – Hedge Funds, Mutual Funds, and Trading Strategies

Technical Skills
(recommended for students who want enhance their skills in financial modeling, analytics, and fintech)
FI 4080 – Financial Modeling
FI 4090 – Introduction to Financial Data Analytics
FI 4460 – Foundations of FinTech
FI 4470 – Commercial Banking and FinTech
CIS 4002 – Financial Technologies

Check out our cost calculator or visit Student Financial Services for information on estimated costs.

Financial Aid

Contact Student Financial Services
We are here to help you understand the cost of your program, the payment schedule and financing opportunities.

[email protected]
404-413-7086

Scholarships

Robinson Scholarships

Robinson offers several scholarships through the Office of the Dean as well as the individual academic departments.

Learn More and Apply

Search Georgia State’s Database

Georgia State offers a robust searchable database containing scholarships offered through the university as well as external websites.

Search the Database

Graduate Research Assistantships

Graduate research assistantships are available to offset program costs. Below, see a table that breaks down the cost of tuition after a GRA position is secured.

Learn More and Apply

Loans

The goal of the undergraduate finance program is to prepare graduates to succeed in entry-level positions in finance and elsewhere in business. Careers in finance are available in nearly every organization ranging from the small entrepreneurial firm to the large corporate organization as well as in the financial services industry including commercial and investment banking, investment management, insurance organizations and securities firms.

Students completing the finance program will possess a number of proficiencies including a strong technical knowledge of finance, the ability to critically analyze and solve problems associated with the financial operations of a firm, and to prepare and present business reports of a financial perspective.

Online B.B.A. Degree
Completion Program

Finish your finance degree online at your own pace.

Apply the credits from your associate’s degree or an undergraduate program at another college toward a B.B.A. in finance at Robinson. Through one-on-one support with an academic advisor, you’ll design a convenient program of study that will strengthen your career.

LEARN MORE
Online B.B.A. Student Close-Up

Kyle Duran was driving home from a construction job in his new truck, 12 days after his 25th Birthday. Leaning over to roll down the window is the last thing he remembers. He woke up in Barnes-Jewish Hospital outside St. Louis with a broken neck and spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Apparently a biker witnessed Duran being flung out of his vehicle and into the cornfields. The biker performed CPR and facilitated Duran’s helicopter ride to the nearest trauma center.

That was 2017. Duran spent a year learning how to put on his pants. He only recently figured out how to write, given the flaccid state of his hands. He purchased some software and a special mouse that enable him to use a computer and type. He’s determined to finish his undergraduate degree in finance through Robinson’s Online B.B.A. Degree Completion Program.

READ MORE

“Everyone has different circumstances. For me, the program has been a blessing.”
– Kyle Duran

Careers

Program graduates work for a variety of well-respected companies including Truist Securities, BlackRock, Blackstone, Georgia-Pacific, Citi, Adobe, Bank of America, Deloitte Consulting, Voya Investment Management, Ernst & Young, JPMorgan Chase, PepsiCo, PwC, and Chubb.
VIEW SAMPLE JOB TITLES

investment officer

consultant

credit analyst

financial analyst

risk advisory consultant

accounting assistant

Related Student Organizations

Finance Society logo

The Georgia State Finance Society focuses on providing opportunities for members to find employment in the field of finance. The group concentrates heavily on the importance of networking; professionalism; and creating a channel for talent acquisition between members, employers, and alumni.

Atlanta Student Investors Club logo

Atlanta Student Investors Club (ASIC) is a hands-on investing club that holds weekly meetings in which members discuss the financial markets, participate in investing simulators, and host guest speaker events with industry professionals.

Investment Management Group

The Investment Management Group (IMG) is an extremely active sub-group of ASIC. The organization comprises a community of individuals interested in learning and applying knowledge from the classroom to deep analysis and portfolio allocation of equities. IMG creates dynamic financial models to create and present pitch decks analyzing various companies that operate in the business world. Public speaking, presentation building, research, and leadership skills are all areas touched on in IMG. Urging independent decision-making, group work, and critical thinking, IMG prides itself on working tirelessly to provide opportunities for its highest-performing members.

Contacts

For help with the admissions process, contact your admissions counselor.

Gerald Gay, department chair
404-413-7321
[email protected]

Robinson College Logo35 Broad St NW
Atlanta, GA 30303