Finance is the art and science of managing money. Berry’s finance curriculum focuses on two interrelated areas: investments and corporate finance. Investments provides an exposure to and appreciation of financial markets and delves into portfolio management, diversification, and the the trade-off between.risk and return. Corporate finance covers the role of financial managers and deals with capital budgeting, capital structure, dividend policy, and working capital decisions in non-financial firms. Presenting finance as an assessment of cash, risk-return, and value is the main theme of the both areas and these intertwined concepts run throughout the finance curriculum.
Students at Berry can get hands-on experience in investing and develop leadership skills by participating in the Berry Investment Group (BIG), a student organization whose activities involve managing real funds. BIG members meet regularly to discuss individual stocks and the stock market and to hear from guest speakers in the investments field. While BIG is open to all Berry students, finance majors are particularly active in the organization.
Berry College’s finance program is also part of the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute University Affiliation Program. The Bachelor of Science in Finance program has been acknowledged as incorporating at least 70 percent of the Chartered Financial Analyst Program Candidate Body of Knowledge. This program positions Berry’s finance students well to obtain the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, which has become the most respected and recognized investment credential in the world. Through participation in this program, Berry is eligible to receive a limited number of student scholarships for the program each year to sit for the level I exam. The CFA program certification along with the continued excellent job placements of our graduates reaffirms the quality of our finance program.

Requirements (63 hours):