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Finance

Money is the irrepressible force that drives our world. The smallest businesses and the largest governments all deal with money management. Studying finance is largely about learning how to make financial decisions for these organizations and acquiring skills that can be used in your personal life, as well.

Why Choose Finance?

Real Life Application

Learning how to manage finances is an invaluable skill regardless of whether or not your decide to pursue a career in finance. Many common tasks require an understanding of how money works. Some of these include:

  • Doing your taxes
  • Financing loans
  • Calculating mortgages
  • Investing in the stock market
  • Planning for retirement
  • Launching a business

The City

New York City is one of the world’s greatest financial centers. Located in New York are the headquarters of many global corporations, the New York Stock Exchange and Wall Street banks. Finance is a competitive industry, but you will have a distinct advantage if you utilize the city’s unique resources. As an undergraduate finance major, you may have the chance to:

  • Meet with successful alumni who work in the finance industry
  • Conduct one-on-one research with a faculty member
  • Intern at a Fortune 500 company
  • Take part in the College Fed Challenge, a rigorous academic competition judged by economists from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York

The Facilities

The School of Business boasts a state-of-the-art finance lab outfitted with the professional technology used in the financial services industry. It is open during the day as a classroom and remains open until late in the evening for students who need to use the equipment for market-based group projects. Because class sizes are small, you often get to work with the technology individually. You have the opportunity to learn using live market data, which adds a practical element to classroom topics. The lab includes:

  • A full-sized, real-time stock ticker
  • Two large flat panel TVs with scrolling financial data
  • HP 8200 series desktops with 22-inch dual monitors equipped with Morningstar Direct
  • 11 Bloomberg Terminals that offer:
    • Real-time and historic price data from around the world
    • Company financial data
    • Trading news
    • Analyst coverage
    • Professional analytic tools

What Will You Learn?

Choosing to major in finance will provide you with a strong understanding of:

  • The global economic system
  • Financial analysis and reporting
  • Investments
  • Corporate structure and financing
  • Securities and derivatives markets
  • Multinational finance

Finance is offered as a major and a minor. Students are encouraged to pursue a dual degree in economics and finance, which is officially recognized by the CFA Institute. This status is only given to schools whose degree programs cover at least 70% of the material that appears on the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam, which is the certification needed to become a qualified investment or financial professional. Manhattan’s professors teach CFA review courses in-house at no extra cost, so students can go into the exam feeling confident.

See the Degree Requirements

What Will You Do?

A finance degree prepares students for careers in financial management and analysis. All organizations, from schools to banks, both public and private, require individuals who are proficient in the tools of financial management.

The world of business is a competitive place. The professors that you learn from are competitive people. The alumni you will meet are, as well. Everyone who lives in New York, by definition, has to be competitive. That starts to rub off on you, and you realize if you want to succeed and you want to more forward, you have to take risks.

Jordi Visser ’92, President and CEO of Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisers