Finance professor lectures in front of a stock ticker

Bachelor of Arts in Finance

About the B.A. in Finance Degree

Cedarville’s distinctly Christian finance degree will prepare you for a career as a financial analyst, security analyst, financial planner, or an account executive in industries such as banking, insurance, or securities. But more than just preparing for a job, at Cedarville you will discover how to be an ethical, God-honoring finance professional who will make a Gospel impact through your vocation, wherever God leads you.

Why Study Finance at Cedarville?

Finance Program Highlights

Thorough preparation — You will learn to plan for financial success of organizations and individuals by asking and answering finance-related questions such as:

Will this project add value to the company and its owners?
What is the best way to finance this project?
What steps would improve our bank branch’s profitability?
How do I help my clients prepare for a comfortable retirement?
What tools can be used to select assets to place within in a diversified investment portfolio?

Comprehensive — You will be equipped to evaluate investment decisions for both organizations and individuals, manage financial institutions, and work with individuals to develop comprehensive financial plans.

What Can I Do With Finance?

What can you do with a finance major? Finance careers focus on financial decisions faced by business enterprises. This includes methods of raising money, debt management, investment and security analysis, real estate and insurance, and virtually all aspects of finance.

The bachelor’s degree in finance will prepare you for careers such as:

Financial Analyst
Financial Manager
Financial Services Sales Agent
Lending Officer
Security Analyst

Our graduates are working at places such as:

Accenture
Cincinnati Insurance
Edward Jones
JPMorgan Chase
LexisNexis
Speedway

Others have gone on to graduate and law school at places like:

Harvard
University of Michigan
University of Rochester

Opportunities to Learn Outside the Classroom

Student-managed investment fund — As a junior and senior finance major, you will gain actual investment experience by managing University endowment funds in a portfolio of equity securities in our Applied Portfolio Management course.

Key Bank Trading Center — With its electronic data ticker and live financial news, the KeyBank Trading Center offers you a realistic environment in which to explore finance and gain practical investment experience.

Internships — Internships will give you real-world experience in the finance field. Cedarville business students have been placed in internships at at Northwestern Mutual, Dana Inc., and Cummins, among others.

Integrated Business Core (IBC) — This two-semester program allows you to integrate classroom learning with practical business experience. As part of the IBC, you will create a business plan and present a loan proposal to local business professionals in order to obtain necessary funding for your startup venture.

Student organizations — You can choose to participate in business-related student organizations:

Student Leadership Team (SLT) — The SLT serves the School of Business Administration by building community among students and faculty, fostering relationships, and planning and executing events and programs.
Enactus — Enactus provides you the opportunity to make a difference as you develop leadership, teamwork, and communication skills through learning, practicing, and teaching principles of free enterprise.
Women in Business — Women in Business is an organization dedicated to helping women in professions learn more about reaching goals in careers, at home, and in service.

Chase Summerlin shares his experiences leading a team of student entrepreneurs who started a real company with real business investors as part of the IBC program.

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Cedarville's School of Business teaches business through a biblical lens emphasizing excellence, stewardship, leadership, and Kingdom influence.

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Members of Cedarville's Integrated Business Core

Read a recent article that highlights the Integrated Business Core (affectionately known as the IBC), a course that gives all Cedarville business majors the opportunity to envision a new business, secure venture capital, develop a strategic plan, market their product, analyze their profits, invest in the community, and close down the business -- all in one semester!

Cedarville finance majors at CFA Institute Research Challenge

Cedarville finance seniors recognized and praised in renowned global financing competition.

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We’re proud of our successful graduates! 98.8% of 2017 graduates from the School of Business Administration were employed or in graduate school within six months of graduation. Check out Cedarville’s other placement rates.

Cedarville's Placement Rates »

Program Faculty

Photo of Jeff Guernsey

Associate Professor of Finance

Photo of Bill Ragle

Associate Professor of Finance

School of Business Administration

Finance Program Curriculum

Building on your core liberal arts and Bible minor courses, you will take a set of core finance courses, including Investments, Money and Financial Markets and our capstone course, Advanced Financial Management. You will be able to choose from a variety of electives and explores areas of interest including financial planning, security analysis, international finance, management of financial institutions and real estate finance.

This major is offered with either a three-year or four-year completion plan.

Sample courses:

Applied Portfolio Management
Financial Planning

View Curriculum Plan and Catalog