Finance, B.S. Financial Planning Track
Program Transfer Guide
Salisbury University

Effective
Fall, 2024 - Current
Instruction Methods
In person
About the Program
Advisement for the major is available from the Finance Department
Finance is broadly defined as the art and science of making decisions involving money in a variety of contexts. People study finance to learn how to allocate their scarce resources over time under conditions of uncertainty utilizing the financial system (i.e., financial markets and institutions) as well as economic organizations (i.e., corporations and governments) with the goal of wealth maximization. Not only is finance exciting and challenging, it continues to evolve at a dizzying pace. The finance major provides the student with a broad background covering the areas of corporate finance, international finance, investments and financial markets/institutions. Students in the finance major prepare for careers in corporate treasury functions and in a variety of financial services firms including commercial banks, securities firms, investment banks, money management firms, insurance companies, real estate companies, financial planners, etc., as well as graduate programs in business. Finance majors are employed by organizations of various size and focus including regional, national and multinational enterprises as well as nonprofit and government agencies.
In addition to the major in finance, for students who desire to focus in a specialization area in finance, the department offers three alternative specialization tracks: Financial Planning, Investments and Corporate Finance.
Students who decide to pursue a second major/concentration/ track must complete a minimum of 12 hours of new credits for each additional major/concentration/track.
Financial planning involves evaluating financial goals and developing comprehensive financial plans for individuals in a highly complex and regulated environment. With changes in the demographic characteristics of the U.S. population, and shifts in employment and retirement preparation trends, more and more people find themselves in a position of needing to apply sophisticated financial planning techniques to their personal economic affairs, such as college savings plans, retirement plans, estate planning, insurance needs assessment.
The Financial Planning Track is registered with Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) in Denver, CO. In September 2002, it became the first undergraduate degree program in financial planning to attain this distinction in the State of Maryland. This registration confers a special advantage on Perdue School graduates, allowing them to sit for the CFP® Certification Examination upon completion of our program.
Salisbury University does not certify individuals to use the CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and CFP (with flame logo)® certification marks. CFP certification is granted solely by Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. to those individuals who, in addition to completing an educational requirement such as this CFP Board-Registered Program, have met ethics, experience and examination requirements.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. owns the marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and CFP (with flame logo)® certification marks, which it awards to individuals who successfully complete initial and ongoing certification requirements.
In addition to the major in finance, for students who desire to focus in a specialization area in finance, the department offers three alternative specialization tracks: Financial Planning, Investments and Corporate Finance.
Students who decide to pursue a second major/concentration/ track must complete a minimum of 12 hours of new credits for each additional major/concentration/track.
Financial planning involves evaluating financial goals and developing comprehensive financial plans for individuals in a highly complex and regulated environment. With changes in the demographic characteristics of the U.S. population, and shifts in employment and retirement preparation trends, more and more people find themselves in a position of needing to apply sophisticated financial planning techniques to their personal economic affairs, such as college savings plans, retirement plans, estate planning, insurance needs assessment.
The Financial Planning Track is registered with Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) in Denver, CO. In September 2002, it became the first undergraduate degree program in financial planning to attain this distinction in the State of Maryland. This registration confers a special advantage on Perdue School graduates, allowing them to sit for the CFP® Certification Examination upon completion of our program.
Salisbury University does not certify individuals to use the CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and CFP (with flame logo)® certification marks. CFP certification is granted solely by Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. to those individuals who, in addition to completing an educational requirement such as this CFP Board-Registered Program, have met ethics, experience and examination requirements.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. owns the marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and CFP (with flame logo)® certification marks, which it awards to individuals who successfully complete initial and ongoing certification requirements.
Finance Policies & Procedures
- A student with an intended finance major will be classified in a pre-professional track until the student has applied to and been accepted in the finance B.S. major.
- Finance majors must submit applications for admission to the Professional Program. No finance student will be allowed to remain in 300/400 level Perdue School courses if s/he has not submitted this application.
- A GPA of 2.0 or higher in all upper-division courses is required.
- A GPA of 2.5 or higher in the pre-professional core courses is required for admission into the Professional Program, including those courses taken at another institution. A GPA Calculator can be found here: GPA Calculator.
- Lower division core, upper division core, major and special requirements may be repeated only once. Students desiring to repeat an SU course to improve a grade must repeat that course at SU.
- Students must have completed 40 total credit hours of college courses to be admitted into the Professional Program.
- Complete at least 9 out of 11 Pre-Professional Courses (26 credits):
o 5 of which must be MATH 155, MATH 160, ECON 211 or ECON 212, ACCT 201, and BUAD 200
o The remaining 2 courses must be completed in the first semester after being admitted to the Professional Program - Track courses are to be taken at SU. A maximum of 6 credit hours of comparable courses may be approved if taken at AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) accredited schools.
- For Additional Policies and Procedures: Please refer to the Department of Economics and Finance.
University Undergraduate Major Policies
- Refer to the program page for this major and the Courses section of this catalog for approved prerequisites and General Education courses.
- Program requirements may not equal 120 credit hours. Students must register for additional electives to complete 120 credits required for graduation.
- All graduates must have a minimum of 30 credits of 300/400-level courses with C grade or above; at least 15 of those credits must be taken at SU.
- Students must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 for graduation.
- Students must complete at least 30 credit hours by direct classroom instruction and/or laboratory experience.
- Students must take 30 of the last 37 credit hours at SU.
- It is the student’s responsibility to satisfy graduation requirements. Please refer to the program page of this catalog for detailed major requirements.
- Students must apply online for graduation by November 15 for May and by May 15 for December.