Department of Finance

Your Future — Capitalized.

The LSU Department of Finance prepares students to apply financial acumen and analytical skills to thrive in different markets, adapt to evolving business models, and deliver strategic value to an organization. Students have the opportunity to focus on asset management, commercial banking, investment banking/corporate finance, and commercial real estate.

Bottom Line: Our degrees will prepare you for a successful career in the fast-paced world of finance.

Ways to Study Finance at LSU

The Department of Finance offers high-quality curricula to undergraduate and graduate students interested in careers in corporate finance, asset management, real estate, insurance, banking, financial planning, and business law.
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Research

The Department of Finance faculty develop ground-breaking theories in finance scholarship and bring their expertise to the classroom and beyond. Explore our thought leadership efforts in banking, capital structure, credit ratings, consumption-based asset pricing, financial innovation, indexing, institutional investors, risk management, and more.

Finance Research

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Faculty

Our internationally recognized faculty are leaders in their fields and are dedicated to sharing their knowledge and real-world experience with their students. The Department of Finance faculty are actively engaged and accessible to ensure they develop their students into future finance industry leaders.

Meet the Finance Faculty

The SMART Lab

Tish O'Connor teaches in smart lab in front of screens.

About the SMART Lab

The Securities Markets Analysis Research and Trading (SMART) Lab provides a simulated trading floor that students use to advise the LSU Foundation on investing funds in LSU’s Tiger Fund portfolio. This experience allows students to gain knowledge in the fast-paced world of securities analysis, research, and trading. The lab’s networked workstations are equipped with the latest hardware and professional analytic software, including Bloomberg, to give students significant on-the-job style training in portfolio construction, risk management, and financial engineering.

Smart Lab full room view of all computers

Bloomberg Training

Along with its 50 networked workstations, the SMART Lab features 12 Bloomberg terminals and offers students the opportunity to obtain online Bloomberg training. Bloomberg is a comprehensive interactive system that provides financial information about publicly traded companies worldwide, extensive data and analytics for equities, fixed income and derivatives, as well as news and economic data.

 Male student uses comptuer in Smart Lab

Lab Technology

The SMART Lab features a variety of financial software available for students, like Bloomberg Terminals, FactSet, and ARGUS.

Male student uses comptuer in Smart Lab

Tiger Fund

Every semester, the SMART Lab serves as a classroom and teaching aide for students managing the LSU Student Managed Investment Fund or the Tiger Fund. The Tiger Fund was founded in the spring of 2005 by a generous grant from the LSU Foundation. It enhances the finance program by providing students with valuable hands-on experience in security analysis and the management of an investment portfolio and strengthening their skills and abilities in market analysis, financial research, oral and written communication, and teamwork.

Students look at large screen with charts.

The SMART Lab has 50 networked computer workstations and 12 Bloomberg terminals, providing current technology for access to Market Data & other resources, including FactSet, Morningstar, and Pitchbook.

Experiential Learning Opportunities

Orange vcap text with bull head illustrationVenture Capital Apprentice Program

A formalized partnership with the LSU Department of Finance, Red Stick Angels, Innovation Catalyst Partners, and NexusLA. It provides an exclusive student opportunity to work with “real life” early-stage, venture-backed companies on various projects, including preparing financial models, fundraising decks, business plans, and market research.

 

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Wall Street Prep Student Passport

WSP training offers corporate finance video training and certification on various finance concepts, including M&A, financial analysis and modeling, DCF and other valuation techniques, debt and credit issues, and advanced Excel and PowerPoint instruction. Students receive a lifetime subscription for $115. LSU Finance is one of a handful of universities to incorporate WSP into the curriculum. 

 

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The Tiger Fund

LSU Finance students oversee the Tiger Fund portfolio, which is comprised of publicly traded equities and private equity fund investments. The Tiger Fund was founded in 2005 by a generous grant from the LSU Foundation. The Tiger Fund provides students with valuable hands-on experience in security analysis and the management of an investment portfolio and strengthening their skills and abilities in market analysis, financial research, oral and written communication, and teamwork.


BEC in purple with white CFA logo overlayed

CFA® University Affiliation

The E. J. Ourso College of Business has a CFA® University Affiliation from the CFA Institute, a global association for investment professionals that awards the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. The CFA affiliates with globally diverse, high-profile institutions that cover a significant portion of the CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge and embrace the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct in their degree programs.

CFA University Affiliation recognition provides a signal to students and the marketplace that the Ourso College's curriculum is closely tied to professional practice and is well suited to preparing students to sit for the CFA exams. 

Equipped For Success 

Student Impact

“FIN 3720 lectures, modeling practice, and the case studies, along with access to Wall Street Prep, allowed me to cultivate technical skills not always available on college campuses. These skills are essential when recruiting for internships and jobs in investment banking, private equity/credit, corporate development, and more. This course and the instructor’s industry expertise and network allow LSU students to compete with students from any university, anywhere, and helped me obtain internships in private credit and corporate development throughout my first two years at LSU.” 

- Hayden Field; LSU Finance 2025

More about the BS Finance

 

 

Commercial Banking Initiative 

The Commercial Banking Initiative (CBI) is a high-impact academic program housed in the Department of Finance. CBI develops the next generation of commercial banking leaders through classroom instruction, interaction with industry leaders, and experiential learning opportunities.

More About CBI

Real Estate Research Institute

Housed in the Department of Finance, RERI studies trends in the Louisiana real estate market. Established in part with funds from the Louisiana Real Estate Commission in 1985, various private sources and grants have provided continued funding for the institute.

More About RERI

Credit Analyst Ed. Program

The challenges facing the banking industry are numerous, and the need for trained personnel has never been greater, particularly the need for credit analysts who understand the banking industry and can underwrite complex commercial credits.

More about CAEP

 

 

Finance News

The financial system constitutes a nexus of governance devices that serve to facilitate the flow of funds to firms seeking external financing, while protecting investors' interests.

Outside of the classroom, Department of Finance Professor Don Chance has made a name for himself as an accomplished author, publishing numerous scholarly articles and textbooks, with one of his main focuses being financial derivatives.

The Venture Capital Apprentice Program (“VCAP”) was formed by Nexus Louisiana (NexusLA), Innovation Catalyst and the Red Stick Angel Network in collaboration with the E. J. Ourso College of Business (“LSU”), LSU’s Innovation Park and the Baton Rouge Area Chamber.

 

Contact Us

Department of Finance
2900 Business Education Complex
501 South Quad Dr.
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
225-578-6291 | finance@lsu.edu

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