Department of Finance and Business Law

Finance Department Mission Statement

In recognition and support of the UW-Whitewater and College of Business and Economics' missions, the Finance and Business Law Department provides students with the tools to grow in their professional capacity with respect to the financial, legal and ethical dimensions of business through:

• Preparing undergraduate and graduate students to meet both current and future societal needs for proficient finance professionals through relevant and up-to-date curricula.
• Building and reinforcing students’ critical thinking, problem-solving, analytical and business communication skills.
• Providing opportunities to interact with faculty, alumni, business and the community through High Impact Practices.
• Attracting and retaining student-focused, high-quality faculty.
• Supporting the College of Business and Economics and other colleges by promoting financial literacy and offering a vibrant business law curriculum.

(Rev. 3-15-19)

More Information About Finance and Business Law

In the Department of Finance and Business Law, our graduates demonstrate an advanced understanding of corporate finance, investments, personal financial planning, and money and capital markets. A Finance degree prepares graduates to pursue their professional interests in numerous areas such as:

• Corporate Finance: managing the budget analysis; cash flow and capital funding needs of a single business entity; management consulting; international finance and trade.
• Banking and Credit Markets: commercial bank and credit union management; commercial lending; personal lending and credit services; commercial and residential mortgage lending; leasing companies.
• Financial Planning: personal cash flow management and budgeting; behavioral finance; household debt management; tax planning; client building growth and development; retirement planning; college savings; investments; wealth and asset management; employee benefits; and estate planning
• Insurance and Risk Management: underwriting; claims adjusting; governmental relations; risk analysis and consulting; broker/agent.
• Investments and Capital Markets: investment management; portfolio management; trust management; wealth management; private equity investing; mergers and acquisitions; and securities underwriting.
• Public Sector: government financial management; budget management; revenue and debt management; regulatory examiner/auditor; non-profit financial management for educational, healthcare and charitable entities.
• Real Estate: real estate development; property management; mortgage lending; appraisal and valuation; broker/agent; real estate investment trust management.
• Almost every venture in our economy, private or public, contains an aspect of financial management. As such, the choice of career paths open to finance professionals is limited only by their own interests, imagination and personal goals.

Industry Alignment and Recognition

As of 2017, the UW-Whitewater undergraduate "finance degree with financial planning emphasis" has been recognized nationally as a degree program allowing an expedited testing process for the granting of the well-recognized Certified Financial Planning (CFP®) designation. This standing has been granted to secondary institutions whose degree program incorporates 100 percent of the CFP Board Competencies required for successful passage of its examination and assessment of financial planning knowledge. 

In addition, both the UW-Whitewater bachelor’s and master’s finance programs have been accepted into the CFA Institute University Recognition Program. This status is only granted to institutions whose degree programs incorporate at least 70% of the CFA Program Common Body of Knowledge (CBOK), which positions students well to sit for the CFA Exams and ultimately obtain the Chartered Financial Analyst ^® designation.