The Department of Finance in the Florida State University College of Business prepares students for a broad range of careers and gives them exposure to capital markets, corporate financial decision-making, portfolio management and financial risk management, among other career paths and specializations.
Students benefit from a trading room that features an 80-inch presentation display, three 55-inch financial data displays, Bloomberg terminals, an eight-zone world clock, 35 touchscreen computers and scrolling stock tickers. The facility provides hands-on experience in financial modeling and portfolio management, giving them an edge in the competitive job market of Wall Street investing.
A Student Investment Fund, established in 2007 with the help of generous friends of the college, enriches the student experience through active participation in financial markets. Students learn long-term trading strategies, derivatives usage, arbitrage concepts, behavioral finance, risk management and performance evaluation.
The department also offers opportunities for students to learn outside the classroom through internships, competitions, international programs and numerous networking and leadership opportunities. 
During the 2022-2023 academic year, students Mason Pullum and Cole Clemons tied for first place at the 9th annual Student Managed Investment Fund Stock Pitch competition at the University of Georgia's Terry School of Business, while Will Myers, Brittany Gestrich, Kyle Lampert and Jesse Dillon won first place in an investment analysis competition at the 2023 FMA Finance Leadership Conference in New York City.
A Closing Bell Speaker Series, which focuses on timely issues in the financial sector, attracted more than 400 students per event last year and aims for more top speakers and high turnouts in 2023-24.
Student groups and organizations include Noles on Wall Street, the Financial Management Association and the Master of Finance Student Association.

Students reap additional real-world benefits from steady participation in national and global competitions. Accomplishments during the 2022-2023 calendar year included first place finishes in the FMA case competition in New York City and the Student Managed Investment Fund Stock Pitch competition at the University of Georgia.

Students get guidance and mentorship from an engaged alumni base that consistently hires FSU graduates and from a dedicated faculty that produces innovative research and includes worldwide experts in their fields.

Faculty members maintain a reputation of the most well-respected teachers on campus, according to student evaluations and university commendations. They work in a variety of areas in finance including corporate, portfolio management, capital markets, hedging, financial institutions, payment systems, behavioral, international and policy issues. 

They continue to present research at elite conferences and to get their work published in premier academic journals. During the summer of 2023, Sergey Mityakov – recently appointed as the Truist Associate Professor of Finance – coauthored a paper, “Unobserved Inputs in Household Production,” which was accepted by the Journal of Political Economy, while Irena Hutton – the Gene Taylor/Bank of America Professor of Finance – coauthored a paper, “Lawyer CEOs,” which was accepted by the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis.

Their studies are enhanced through research-focused conferences and events and the department’s centers – the Truist Center for Free Enterprise and the Gene Taylor/Bank of America Center for Banking and Financial Studies.

Academic programs include:

• A Bachelor of Science in finance (BS-FIN).
• Three combined pathways providing finance students a head start on an MBA or master’s in finance, and real estate students a head start on a master’s in finance.
• A Master of Science in Finance (MSF).
• A Master of Science in Finance (MSF) with a specialization in Real Estate.
• A Ph.D. in Business Administration with a major in Finance.
• A minor in free enterprise and ethics.

The department also offers an international special academic program in finance and the finance specialization in the college’s Master of Business Administration (MBA) program.

-- Pete Reinwald