Bachelor of Science in Business Administration: Concentration in Finance with Certificate in Commercial Real Estate

Concentration in Finance

The Finance concentration teaches students to recognize, understand, and attain the skills necessary to be successful in the world of finance. It focuses on the financial decisions made in every organization, which include investment, decisions in purchasing and selling real and financial assets, raising cash to fund these investments, and managing the risk of its assets and investments. Other operational decisions include implementing routine day-to-day procedures to manage all financial aspects of the organization and decisions regarding changes in the mix of its services and products. Although a financial manager specializes in these decisions, managers from across the organization also contribute.

Four sets of skills are essential to financial decision-making: First, an understanding of the environment within which decisions are made, including both the internal structure of the organization and the nature of external capital and financial markets; second, familiarity with the organization’s information system, including accounting, financial, and human resources; third, analysis of available financial data to understand the likely impact of alternative decisions and their level of uncertainty; finally, understanding the interrelationships between financial decisions and decisions made in other parts of the organization, such as marketing, production, and IT.

All concentration courses must be taken on a letter-grade basis. Students must maintain an overall minimum grade point average of 2.0 across the seven concentration courses.

Program Learning Outcomes

1. Students have basic competencies in business-related disciplines.

   1. Students will demonstrate the discipline‐based knowledge in accounting, economics, finance, information systems, international business, management, marketing, operations, and statistics.

   2. Students will demonstrate the ability to integrate the knowledge of different functional areas into effective business solutions.

2. Students demonstrate effective communication skills.

   1. Students will create well‐written documents on a business topic;

   2. Students will deliver an effective oral presentation on a business topic.

3. Students demonstrate the ability to analyze business situations.

   1. Students will solve business problems using appropriate quantitative and analytical techniques and technologies;

   2. Students will demonstrate the ability to identify and analyze alternatives in a business context;

   3. Students will demonstrate the ability to articulate and defend a course of action.

4. Students develop team skills that facilitate achievement of organizational goals.

5. Students will work effectively in culturally and ethnically diverse teams demonstrated by the ability to contribute to the team’s performance, interact positively with teammates, keep the team on track, maintain high standards for team performance, and by having the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to help the team succeed.

6. Students understand the ethical issues related to the operation of business including sustainability.

   1. Students will identify key concepts in business ethics;

   2. Students will recognize the ethical dilemmas in specific business cases;

   3. Students will analyze how ethical issues can affect the interests of different stakeholders;

   4. Students will propose a business solution to the ethical dilemmas;

   5. Students will be aware of sustainability issues in business.

7. Students understand the issues related to the operation of global business

   1. Students will recognize the relevant global issues including legal, political, social and cultural factors in specific management situations;

   2. Students will analyze the impact of the global issues such as legal, political, social and cultural factors in specific management situations;

   3. Students will demonstrate the ability to propose business solutions based on the analysis of global issues including legal, political, social and cultural factors.

Commercial Real Estate Certificate

The Building Owners and Managers Association, San Francisco Foundation (BOMA SF Foundation) has partnered with SF State, providing support for several courses in commercial real estate. Students earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a Concentration in Finance and a Certificate in Commercial Real Estate.

Career Opportunities

According to BOMA SF Foundation, “One of the most demanding issues facing the commercial real estate industry today is how to replace a large aging workforce soon to retire.” Jobs with great compensation and opportunities for career advancement are available in the commercial real estate industry, including property management, facilities management, asset, and portfolio managers, real estate leasing and brokerage, and building engineering.

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration: Concentration in Finance – 69 units

Except in cases of credit by examination, no more than 6 units of the core may be completed on a CR/NC basis.

Students must earn a grade of C- or better in core Business courses required as prerequisites for other core Business courses.

Prerequisite Courses (9 units)

Course List

Code	Title	Units
DS 110	Calculus with Business Applications	3
or MATH 110	Business Calculus
ECON 101	Introduction to Microeconomic Analysis	3
ISYS 263	Introduction to Information Systems	3
or a passing score on the ISYS 263 CLEP Exam

These courses must be completed before enrollment in certain core courses. Most core courses have specific prerequisites that are listed within the course descriptions.

Core Requirements (39 units)

Course List

Code	Title	Units
Required Core Courses
ACCT 100	Introduction to Financial Accounting	3
ACCT 101	Introduction to Managerial Accounting	3
BUS 300GW	Business Communication for Professionals - GWAR	3
or DS 660GW	Communications for Business Analytics - GWAR
BUS 682	Seminar on Business and Society 1	3
BUS 690	Seminar in Business Policy and Strategic Management 1	3
DS 212	Business Statistics I	3
or ISED 160	Data Analysis in Education
or MATH 124	Elementary Statistics
DS 412	Operations Management	3
ECON 102	Introduction to Macroeconomic Analysis	3
FIN 350	Business Finance	3
IBUS 330	International Business and Multicultural Relations	3
ISYS 363	Information Systems for Management	3
or ACCT 307	Accounting Information Systems
MGMT 405	Introduction to Management and Organizational Behavior	3
MKTG 431	Principles of Marketing	3

1	Course must be taken for a letter grade.

Concentration Requirements (15 units)

Course List

Code	Title	Units
FIN 303	Accounting for Financial Analysis	3
or FIN 357	Financial Statement and Data Analysis
FIN 351	Financial Management	3
FIN 353	Financial Institutions	3
FIN 355	Investments	3
FIN 536	International Finance	3

Electives (6 units)

Course List

Code	Title	Units
Select two:
BUS 350	Introduction to Entrepreneurship	3
DS 408	Computer Simulation	3
DS 411	Decision Modeling for Business	3
DS 601	Applied Management Science	3
DS 604	Applied Business Forecasting	3
FIN 365	Real Estate Principles	3
FIN 370	Fundamentals of Real Estate	3
FIN 371	Commercial Real Estate Financial Management	3
FIN 372	Commercial Leasing and Development	3
FIN/I R/PLSI 435	Politics of Global Finance and Crisis	4
FIN/ECON/ENVS 651	Student Managed Fund in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investments	3
FIN 653	Seminar in Bank Management	3
FIN 655	Alternative Investment	3
FIN 656	Student Managed Investment Fund	3
FIN 658	Financial Risk Management	3
FIN 659	Special Topics in Finance	3
ISYS 464	Managing Enterprise Data	3
ISYS 569	Information Systems for Business Process Management	3
ISYS 650	Business Intelligence	3
Other appropriate courses may be selected with prior written consent of an advisor.

Commercial Real Estate Certificate — 12 units

To earn a certificate in Commercial Real Estate (CRE), students must satisfy the following three requirements:

1. Completion of the following four courses:

Course List

Code	Title	Units
FIN 365	Real Estate Principles	3
FIN 370	Fundamentals of Real Estate	3
FIN 371	Commercial Real Estate Financial Management	3
FIN 372	Commercial Leasing and Development	3

2. Earn an overall GPA of 2.0 across these four courses.

3. Successful completion of the finance major.

Commercial Real Estate Certificate Specifics

Finance majors must complete the requirements of their B.S. degree in business administration with a concentration in finance, plus a minimum of two additional courses.

• Five required finance concentration courses: FIN 303 or FIN 357, FIN 351, FIN 353, FIN 355 and FIN 536.
• Four required CRE finance courses: FIN 365, FIN 370, FIN 371 and FIN 372.

FIN 370, FIN 371 and FIN 372 are 100% funded by the Building Owners & Managers Association San Francisco Foundation (BOMA SF Foundation). The certificate will be branded with BOMA SF Foundation’s sponsorship.

General Education Requirements

General Education Requirements

Requirement	Course Level	Units	Area Designation
Oral Communication	LD	3	A1
Written English Communication I	LD	3	A2
Critical Thinking	LD	3	A3
Physical Science	LD	3	B1
Life Science	LD	3	B2
Lab Science	LD	1	B3
Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning	LD	3	B4
Arts	LD	3	C1
Humanities	LD	3	C2
Arts or Humanities	LD	3	C1 or C2
Social Sciences	LD	3	D1
Social Sciences: US History	LD	3	D2
Social Sciences: US & CA Government	LD	3	D3
Lifelong Learning and Self-Development (LLD)	LD	3	E
Physical and/or Life Science	UD	3	UD-B
Arts and/or Humanities	UD	3	UD-C
Social Sciences	UD	3	UD-D
SF State Studies
Courses certified as meeting the SF State Studies requirements may be upper or lower division in General Education (GE), a major or minor, or an elective.
American Ethnic and Racial Minorities	LD or UD	3	AERM
Environmental Sustainability	LD or UD	3	ES
Global Perspectives	LD or UD	3	GP
Social Justice	LD or UD	3	SJ

Note: LD = Lower-Division; UD = Upper-Division.

First-Time Student Roadmap (4 Year)

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General Advising Information for Transfer Students

1. Before transfer, complete as many lower-division requirements or electives for this major as possible.
2. The following courses are not required for admission but are required for graduation. Students are strongly encouraged to complete these units before transfer; doing so will provide more flexibility in course selection after transfer.
   • a course in U.S. History
   • a course in U.S. & California Government

For information about satisfying the requirements described in (1) and (2) above at a California Community College (CCC), please visit http://www.assist.org. Check any geographically accessible CCCs; sometimes options include more than one college. Use ASSIST to determine:

• Which courses at a CCC satisfy any lower-division major requirements for this major;
• Which courses at a CCC satisfy CSU GE, US History, and US & CA Government requirements.

Remedial courses are not transferable and do not apply to the minimum 60 semester units/90 quarter units required for admission.

Additional units for courses that are repeated do not apply to the minimum 60 units required for upper-division transfer (for example, if a course was not passed on the first attempt or was taken to earn a better grade).

Before leaving the last California Community College of attendance, obtain a summary of completion of lower-division General Education units (IGETC or CSU GE Breadth). This is often referred to as a GE certification worksheet. SF State does not require delivery of this certification to Admissions, but students should retain this document for verifying degree progress after transfer.

Credit for Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or College-Level Examination Program courses: AP/IB/CLEP credit is not automatically transferred from the previous institution. Units are transferred only when an official score report is delivered to SF State. Credit is based on the academic year during which exams were taken. Refer to the University Bulletin in effect during the year of AP/IB/CLEP examination(s) for details regarding the award of credit for AP/IB/CLEP.

Students pursuing majors in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines often defer 6-9 units of lower-division General Education in Areas C and D until after transfer to focus on preparation courses for the major. This advice does not apply to students pursuing associate degree completion before transfer.

Transferring From Institutions Other Than CCCs or CSUs

Review SF State's lower-division General Education requirements. Note that, as described below, the four basic skills courses required for admission meet A1, A2, A3, and B4 in the SF State GE pattern. Courses that fulfill the remaining areas of SF State’s lower-division GE pattern are available at most two-year and four-year colleges and universities.

Of the four required basic skills courses, a course in critical thinking (A3) may not be widely offered outside the CCC and CSU systems. Students should attempt to identify and take an appropriate course no later than the term of application to the CSU. To review more information about the A3 requirement, please visit bulletin.sfsu.edu/undergraduate-education/general-education/lower-division/#AAEL.

Waiting until after transfer to take a single course at SF State that meets both US and CA/local government requirements may be an appropriate option, particularly if transferring from outside of California.

All Students Must Meet the Transfer Eligibility Requirements Outlined Below for Admission.

For more information, visit the Undergraduate Admissions section.

• Complete 60 or more transferable semester units or 90 or more quarter units.
• Earn a college grade point average of 2.0 or better in all transferable courses. Non-local area residents may be held to a higher GPA standard.
• Be in good standing at the last college or university attended.
• Complete 30-semester units (45-quarter units) of General Education, including four basic skills courses:
  1. One course in oral communication (same as CSU GE Area A1)
  2. One course in written composition (same as CSU GE Area A2)
  3. One course in critical thinking (same as CSU GE Area A3)
  4. One course in mathematics or quantitative reasoning (same as CSU GE Area B4)
• The four basic skills courses and a minimum of 60 transferable semester units (90-quarter units) must be completed by the spring semester prior to fall admission, or by the fall semester prior to spring admission. Earn a C- or better grade in each basic skills course.