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Description of the Major | Degrees Offered | Concentrations | Minors |
Declaring the Major | Progressing in the Major

Description of the Major

The major is a part of the Department of Finance and Business Law, a program within the College of Business.

As part of the nationally recognized JMU College of Business, the finance program provides the body of knowledge, tools and techniques necessary for a wide range of professions in today's competitive job market. Through state-of-the-art instruction, emphasis is placed on applications, group interaction, research techniques and tools, and problem solving skills. In addition to the required courses, we offer finance electives in derivatives, financial analysis, financial modeling, and commercial banking. Many of our graduates are employed in financial analysis, investment management, banking, security trading, and investment banking.

If students would like to major in Finance, they must be admitted to the College of Business. Therefore, it is important for students to meet with their academic adviser to plan their coursework for admission into the College of Business.

Once admitted to the College of Business, we expect students to complete the Finance major three semesters following the semester that the student takes Integrated Functional Systems (COB 300). Many of our students will also major in Economics, Accounting, or Computer Information Systems. The College of Business strongly encourages students to complete a summer internship between their junior and senior year.

The faculty prides itself on staying current and innovative through a commitment to excellence in education. We emphasize in our classrooms both a theoretical understanding of financial management and markets, as well as the practical application in relating financial and economic theory to real world problems. The Department of Finance and Business Law faculty members have published in journals including the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Financial Analysts Journal and the Journal of Futures Markets. Faculty members have also published numerous books, cases and monographs.

Degrees Offered

B.B.A.

Concentrations

None

Minors

None

Declaring the Major

New Freshmen and Transfer Students
Students should declare the Finance major when they register for orientation. Any student admitted to JMU can declare any major offered by the College of Business. However students are not formally admitted into the College of Business until certain requirements are met as listed in the section "Progressing in the Major."

Currently Enrolled Major Changers
If students wish to change their major to Finance they must be in good academic standing (have a cumulative grade point average of 2.00 or higher) on the date they submit a "Change or Declaration of Major" form, which is available in the Academic Services Center located in Zane Showker Hall, room 205. Declaring a College of Business major does not guarantee full admission to the major. A student will not be fully admitted to the major until requirements are met as listed below.

Progressing in the Major

Full Admission to the College of Business
Declaring a business major does not guarantee full admission to the College of Business. Students must formally apply for full admission to the College of Business by submitting an application for admission during the semester in which they are completing the lower-level B.B.A. core courses.

Students are formally admitted into the College of Business as a B.B.A. degree seeking major and permitted to register for COB 300, Integrated Functional Systems, when the following requirements are met:

1. A completed application for admission into the College of Business is submitted to the College of Business Academic Services Center located in 205 Zane Showker Hall, according to the following schedule:


• October 1 for the upcoming spring semester


• March 1 for upcoming summer session and fall semesters


2. All 10 lower-level Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) core courses are successfully completed as follows:


• First Year (It is recommended that students complete the following five B.B.A. core courses by the end of the freshman year):


• COB 191. Business Statistics or MATH 220. Elementary Statistics


• COB 204. Computer Information Systems


• GECON 200. General Education Macroeconomics


• ECON 201. Microeconomics


• MATH 205. Introductory Calculus or MATH 235 Calculus I
  


• Second Year (It is recommended that students complete the following five B.B.A. core courses by the end of their sophomore year):


• COB 202. Interpersonal Skills


• COB 218. Legal Environment of Business


• COB 241. Financial Accounting


• COB 242. Managerial Accounting


• COB 291. Introduction to Management Science


3. Earn a cumulative GPA of 2.7 of greater in the B.B.A. lower-level core courses (excluding MATH 205 or MATH 235)
   
   The B.B.A. core GPA is calculated using grades earned in the B.B.A. lower-level core courses excluding calculus (MATH 205 or MATH 235). Only grades earned at JMU will be used. The university policy for calculating repeat-credit and repeat-forgiveness will be followed.
   
   Students with a 2.7 B.B.A. core GPA are assured admission into the College of Business and COB 300. Students who meet all of the requirements above but fail to achieve a 2.7 B.B.A. core GPA will be admitted to the College of Business and COB 300 based on B.B.A. core GPA ranking, and pending resources and space availability.


4. Admission is granted within one calendar year of the applicant's first application. Two applications, in consecutive semesters of enrollment, are permitted.