Financial Analyst
Evaluates financial information to support investment or business decisions.
Business & Money
Finance major, explained.
Understand how money, risk, time, and decisions interact.
Finance studies how individuals and organizations obtain, allocate, and manage money over time. Students often learn valuation, investment analysis, corporate decision making, financial markets, risk, and the quantitative tools used to compare alternatives.
You might enjoy this if
Notice what feels familiar.
You like making decisions with numbers and incomplete information.
You are curious how companies fund growth.
You want to understand risk rather than avoid thinking about it.
The study experience
What the work may feel like.
Programs differ by college. These labels describe common areas of emphasis, not a score or universal rating.
Reading
Regular
Writing
Regular
Quantitative work
Central
Labs or hands-on work
Limited
Design and making
Limited
People and collaboration
Regular
Questions you may keep asking
What is this asset or opportunity worth?
What risk is being taken and by whom?
How does time change the decision?
Corporate financeInvestmentsFinancial marketsRisk managementFinancial modeling
What can you do with this major?
One major. More than one direction.
These are example connections, not guaranteed outcomes. Many careers welcome more than one major, and some require additional education or licensure.
Corporate Finance Analyst
Helps an organization plan budgets, investments, funding, and long-term financial choices.
Financial Planner
Helps individuals make informed decisions about saving, investing, risk, and long-term goals.
Risk Analyst
Studies potential financial losses and helps organizations plan for uncertainty.
Finance includes many different paths. Students should distinguish corporate finance, planning, banking, investment work, insurance, and financial technology when comparing programs.
Try it before college
Projects that make Finance more real.
Reading helps you understand a field. A Compass project helps you discover whether you enjoy doing the work.
Each project includes a step-by-step plan, custom AI prompts, reflection guidance, and a finished creation for the student’s portfolio.
See how Compass works
Compass project
20–40 hours
Write Your First Investment Thesis
Think like a professional investor by researching one company from every angle.
- You will create
- Professional Investment Research Report & Presentation
Compass project
14–30 hours
Make Your First Paycheck Work
Turn a first job into a money system before the money disappears.
- You will create
- first-paycheck money system
Compass project
30–56 hours
Reveal the Real College Price Tag
Look past the sticker price and build a four-year estimate that exposes the costs families often miss.
- You will create
- four-year college cost comparison model
Keep exploring
Related majors worth comparing.
Sources and important context
Compass presents a curated collection of 100 widely studied and commonly searched undergraduate majors. The collection is not a statistical ranking. Major names and CIP connections follow common US college usage and the NCES Classification of Instructional Programs. Study patterns are editorial summaries of common program structures and vary by college. Career directions are examples, not guaranteed outcomes. Students should compare actual curricula, admission rules, accreditation, and licensing requirements at colleges they are considering.
NCES CIP codes: 52.0801
- NCES Classification of Instructional ProgramsNational Center for Education Statistics. Official US taxonomy for fields of study and instructional programs.
- Field of DegreeUS Bureau of Labor Statistics. Federal career exploration resources organized around broad college fields.
- O*NET OnLineUS Department of Labor. Detailed descriptions of occupations, tasks, knowledge, skills, and work activities.
Turn this interest into something real.
Explore Compass projects