The Division of Finance and Economics

There are many aspects of business and commerce that are worthy of study.  The success of the economic system is based on the success of the firms that make up that economy, and all businesses must address the needs of their customers and clients.  A firm must offer a product or service that the market demands, and this requires innovative product design, creative marketing, and effective management.  Underlying all these activities is finance.  A business may have the perfect product, dedicated employees, and outstanding future prospects, but should that firm ever run out of money it will fail.  The need for intelligent financial management is crucial to business success.

Finance Major

The Division of Finance and Economics at Marshall University offers a major in finance designed to improve the student’s understanding of financial systems and operating processes relative to the business environment.  Course offerings cover corporate finance, financial institutions, and investments.  The capstone experience provides the opportunity to exercise both technical and communications skills in a constructive critical environment.  The entire program is designed to provide the student with a solid background in all areas of finance, a portfolio of knowledge and skills that can be valuable in any business or personal setting.

Graduates of the program have found success in a wide variety of fields including managing small firms, running investment funds, and government regulation.  Many graduates go on to complete graduate school in fields other than finance, and their understanding of finance helps them in their endeavors.  There is a financial aspect to every activity, and understanding finance allows a person to be able to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves and design his or her individual success.

A major in finance opens many doors, and you can create for yourself your own career.  Even if you choose not to major in finance, be sure to take enough of our courses so that you can better understand the importance of the financial aspects of your chosen field.  Your ultimate success depends on you and how good you are at what you do, and studying finance can help you maximize your potential.

Economics Major

The Division of Finance & Economics offers several different options for students interested in Economics.  The basic Major in Economics will train you to think logically and clearly about how economic activities affect our society, at the level of the individual business firm and consumer and at the level of the economy as a whole.  You will learn how business firms operate in a market system such as ours, and how government intervention in the marketplace affects (sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse) business behavior.  You will learn the reality behind the economic numbers we hear about on the news every day: what they mean, what they don’t mean, and why we should pay attention to them.  You will learn how our economy interacts with the rest of the world, and why what goes on in the rest of the world matters to us.  You will also learn how to make use of real-world data and statistics to analyze and evaluate how specific economic activities and policies affect business and consumer behavior, and our economy as a whole.

If you would like to focus primarily on the international economic arena, and study in depth how the U.S. fits into the global economy and how global economic activity affects our country, we offer a Concentration in International Economics.  If you would like to tie economics together with the study of modern financial management practices and how our financial system operates, we offer a Double-Major in Economics & Finance. 

Whichever option you choose, you will learn problem-solving skills, and how to do analysis.  You will also learn how to communicate your ideas, solutions, and analyses to others.

International Business Major

Beginning this Fall (2008), the Division of Finance and Economics will offer a new The International Business major curriculum requires the completion of at least eight international business courses, a study abroad or foreign travel experience and courses in a foreign language. In keeping with growing market trends, the IB major is interdisciplinary since students are able to select both business and non-business courses, The new IB curriculum will be comprised of the following structure:

• Fifteen credit hours of required IB major courses including global macroeconomics, international marketing, international trade, international financial management and international business strategies and policies.
  
  
• Six credit hours of non-business elective courses. Some of these courses include cultural anthropology, international literature, world regional geography, international politics and international relations.
  
  
• Three credit hours of IB experiential learning.  Students can satisfy this requirement a variety of ways.  They can study abroad, join a faculty-led program to a foreign country, or participate in an internship program with either a local or foreign business.
  
  
• Complete at least nine credit hours of a foreign language. Students can select from different foreign languages, including Spanish, German, French and Japanese.
  
  

We are very excited to offer our students this alternative to the traditional business program.  The IB curriculum is designed to allow students to learn from a variety of disciplines, both business and non-business, as well as through different cultural experiences. Whether they work for a local firm or a multinational enterprise, all companies are influenced by activities in markets abroad.  Considering the U. S. population is less than 5% of the world population, we must learn what is happening in other business environments throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.