BS in Finance

The Department of Finance offers a Bachelor of Science in Finance and prepares students to actively participate in the finance industry. Not only do students have ample opportunities to interact with finance professionals from the department’s many partnerships, but they also have the opportunity to learn in the Market Training Lab, giving them hands-on experience. The program offers a variety of elective courses, allowing students to delve into specific areas of interest, including corporate financial analysis, investments and portfolio management, banking, international finance, trading, and risk management. Our research faculty provides students with innovative educational programs that help students apply new insights to critical business problems.

Featured Courses

FIN 419

Behavioral Finance

Provides an understanding of the individuals’ behavioral biases and their effects on financial markets. Course Information: 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite(s): FIN 300; or FIN 301 and FIN 302; or consent of the instructor.

FIN 422

Alternative Investments: Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Hedge Funds

Aims to help students understand the investment opportunities available in venture capital, private equity, and hedge funds, both from a quantitative and a qualitative perspective, using a combination of lectures and case discussions. Course Information: Credit is not given for FIN 422 if the student has credit in FIN 445. Prerequisite(s): FIN 300; or FIN 301 and FIN 302. Recommended background: FIN 310 and FIN 320.

FIN 423

Financial Modeling, Analysis, and Decision Making

Teaches financial modeling and firm valuation skills using a set of case studies. Using financial data from real firms, students compute and forecast cash flows to evaluation day-to-day business decisions. Course Information: Extensive computer use required. Prerequisite(s): FIN 300; or FIN 301 and FIN 302.

FIN 424

Financial Communication

This learn-by-doing course concentrates on developing strong communication skills, with topics based on economic and financial scenarios. Prerequisites: FIN 300 or FIN 301. Recommended background: basic Excel and PowerPoint skills.

FIN 480

Securities Markets and High Frequency Trading

How securities are traded in modern financial markets; design, operation, and regulation of trading processes; real-time algorithmic trading exercises and high-frequency trading strategies. Course Information: 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. Recommended background: FIN 310 or FIN 510.

FIN 494

Introduction of Blockchain and Crypto Finance

Blockchain is transforming the financial world and our global economics. This course will give students the tools to understand the ever-changing blockchain landscape. Students will walk away from this course being able to evaluate risks and opportunities in this space by learning the fundamentals of blockchain and digital currencies.

This course will teach:

  • Fundamentals behind digital currencies, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain technologies.
  • Wallet security from a consumer and business standpoint
  • Verifying and tracing transactions
  • Smart contracts
  • Popular DeFi products (DEX, Staking, Liquidity Pools, Flash Loans, Crypto Derivatives, etc.)

Faculty

Finance Waitlists

These waitlists are for students who are not majoring in UIC Business, nor minoring in Business Administration or Finance.
At the latest, students will be notified a week before classes start as to whether or not they are able to register for the course.

CME Group Foundation Market Training Lab

A student working at a computer with financial tables on the screen and a financial figures projected on a big screen behind the computer.

Funded with a grant from the CME Group Foundation, the Market Training Lab provides tools, data and educational services to enhance the learning experience in finance and to better prepare students for skills demanded by the market.

Software in the Lab:

  • Bloomberg Professional
  • R

CME Training Lab Tutorials:

Registration: We are currently not requiring students to register for tutorials linked to courses. You are welcome to attend those tutorials even if you are not in the course; however, students from the courses have priority if space is limited. If you would like a class added, please contact John P. Miller, Director of the CME Training Lab.

Resources: Each tutorial has hyperlinks to resources that will be used.  To download the material you will need to login using your NetID and password.

​Other resources:​ Students who have no previous programming experience are encouraged to work through the tutorials offered by either DataCamp or R Tutorial.

  • DataCamp: Introduction to R tutorial. Go to DataCamp, register a free account, then work through the guided tutorial. This is a great resource that allows beginners to become familiar with the R programming language at their own pace. DataCamp also offers tutorials on more advanced topics in R.
  • R Tutorial: R Introduction tutorial to begin working through the tutorial – no registration required.
  • An Introduction to R is a detailed tutorial covering many aspects of R. This is a good reference for users that are already familiar with R.
  • Introduction to Bloomberg

Meet Your Advisers

Advising

You can schedule your advising appointment online by going to your my.uic.edu portal, clicking on the “Advising” tab, and then on the iAdvise button. The iAdvise online scheduling tool has the most up to date availability for all advisers.

Schedule an Advising Appointment

Program Administrator