Finance

Students describe Drake’s finance program as practical, challenging, interesting, fast-paced and rewarding. When you choose to study finance at Drake, you’ll enter an engaging program that gives you hands-on experience, access to knowledgeable and experienced professors, and preparation for a successful career as a financial manager, investment advisor/financial planner, security analyst, valuation expert, mortgage advisor, financial consultant, and more.

The Finance curriculum is designed to give you knowledge of major concepts and practices in financial management while helping develop analytical, decision-making, and communication abilities. You’ll work on Bloomberg Terminals for class, attain a Bloomberg Markets Concept Certificate, and have the opportunity to participate in an on-site case competition and the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) Challenge competition while at Drake. This mixed exposure to technical financial knowledge and broad-based business acumen will help you become a well-rounded graduate desired in today’s competitive market.

What makes the finance program at Drake distinctive?

1. Drake is a CFA Institute® University Affiliate Program
2. The integration of Bloomberg terminals in student learning
3. The opportunity for students to manage an equity portfolio, the Krause Challenge Fund
4. Access to the strong financial service industry in Des Moines

Degree Options

• Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA), Finance
• BSBA, joint majors in Accounting and Finance or Actuarial Science and Finance
• Minor in Finance

Students may also pursue a double major, earning two separate degrees, one in finance and one in another business area including accounting, actuarial science, economics, entrepreneurship, information systems, management, and marketing.

Academic Preparation
Students majoring in finance should have a strong general high school preparation, including mathematics and quantitative reasoning.

Program Size
Approximately 270 students are enrolled in the major and two joint majors. Our average class size is about 30 students.

Our program is a CFA Institute® University Affiliated Program which means that we have included a significant portion of the CFA program Candidate Body of Knowledge (CBOK)—including the Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct—into our curriculum. We provide our learners substantial preparation to take the Level l CFA® exam and obtain the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, the most respected and recognized investment credential in the world. Moreover, with three faculty members who are CFA® charter holders, we are able to award several scholarships to students to take the exam, thus, significantly reducing the exam cost to them.

Don’t just take our word for it, here’s a few comments from some of our graduates:

	“I have found that all of my finance professors are really passionate and truly care about their students. Getting to know them has taught me more than how to do a discounted cash flow analysis. I have had discussions about potential finance roles I could have, what is going on in the financial markets, and the importance of integrity when I enter the real world.” —Jaime Zaine, Finance Associate at Polaris Industries
	“The finance program does a great job getting students ready for the real world. I realized this when competing on a team in the CFA Institute® Research Challenge. Our training allowed us to win the Iowa competition and move on to the regional and global competition. It was a tremendous learning opportunity.”  —Jeff Konrad, Audit Senior Assistant at Deloitte
	“I utilized my Bloomberg skills at my internship in Texas, where I worked as an analyst for a company that manages money for insurance companies. Since insurance companies mostly invest in bonds, I was able to use my knowledge from Drake to dive in head first. I definitely feel prepared moving forward with my professional career.” —Ben Cole, Technology & Management Consultant at RSM US LLP
	“Drake's finance program is practical and adapted to the real-life job market. During my internship in China, I applied the knowledge and skills I learned in my courses to observe the operation of the Japanese bank.”—Lantian Xu, Contractor at Global Atlantic Financial Group

 CFA® and CFA Insitute® mark are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute.