BS Financial Information and Analysis

The field of Financial Information and Analysis (FIA) provides students with expertise in the wide range of issues common to both finance and accounting. This includes the role of accounting as the basic language of business, the importance of accounting information systems in organizational decision making, and the use of this information by financial decision makers in managing assets and investments. The knowledge and skills developed through our unique curriculum provide graduates with the ability to succeed in a workplace through integration of the traditional functions of finance and accounting. 

The FIA curriculum gives each student a fundamental knowledge of managerial and cost accounting, and financial statement analysis. Career opportunities for graduates in FIA can be found in the fields of management accounting, accounting information systems design, financial management, investment management, financial services, and corporate financial planning.

Students who are interested in pursuing a career in accounting and preparing for their CPA, can select the accounting track. Students in the accounting track would take all six courses required for the FIA major (three accounting courses and three finance courses) and would fill their remaining professional electives with accounting courses. FIA majors seeking the accounting track can select three options from the following accounting courses; AC407 – Taxation of Business Entities, AC421 – Accounting Information Systems, AC431 – Advanced Accounting: Invest. & Ownership Interests, and AC436 – Auditing. 

Students earning a degree in Financial Information and Analysis must complete 120 credits including the following: 33 credits of Clarkson Common Experience requirements (including the Clarkson Seminar, two mathematics courses(calculus and statistics), two science courses (one of which must include a lab), five knowledge area courses, and a technology course); 42 credits of foundation coursework in business; 27 credits of specialized business courses to satisfy the major requirements; and 18 credit hours of electives. Since 50% of coursework must be taken outside the School of Business (no more than 3 economics and 2 statistics courses can count as non-business courses), most of the electives, depending on courses chosen for the Clarkson Common Experience, will need to be taken outside the School of Business.

An undergraduate student who successfully earns a degree in Financial Information and Analysis can apply to the Masters of Business Administration program at Clarkson. Successful completion of the MBA program, with an emphasis in accounting, allows a student to fulfill the 150 credit hour requirement necessary to sit for the certified public accounting licensure examination.