Our School of Business offers undergrad majors in accounting, economics, finance, management and marketing. We also, of course, offer a straight-up business major that allows students to combine concentrations in two business disciplines.
Here’s a little guidance on how to sift through those options.
Consider an accounting major if…
Think you might like to be an accountant, a comptroller, audit associate, fiscal analyst, investment officer, or underwriter? Those are just a few examples of roles our recent accounting alumni hold. You’d enjoy accounting if you like dealing with numbers and are intrigued by taxes or budgets, and also if analytical skills sound like your kind of thing. Why accounting at Siena specifically? In addition to our degree being ranked in the top 10 percent of programs nationally, we also offer an M.S. in Accounting. And through our 3+1 B.S./M.S. in Accounting option, you could graduate from here in four years with both degrees, ready to sit for your CPA exam in New York State.
CONSIDER AN ECONOMICS MAJOR IF…
Do you gravitate toward movies like The Big Short, Inside Job, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Moneyball? They all have something in common: an economics angle. In econ classes at Siena, you’ll learn about the nature of money, the term structure of interest rates, microeconomic topics like price control and pollution, the extent of poverty in the United States from an economist’s point of view, theories of income determination and so much more. Interested? Siena’s econ major will set you up extremely well for jobs like business information analyst, client data specialist, economist and tax manager.
CONSIDER A MARKETING MAJOR IF…
How do these hypothetical scenarios sound to you? It’s your job to market a genius new money-saving iPhone app to Gen Z. It’s up to you to convince millennial women that a certain luxury fashion line is affordable and perfect for them. It’s your role to analyze marketing efforts for your favorite baseball team. Or, you’re in charge of the marketing strategy to get more students interested in applying to Siena College! With Siena’s recent marketing alumni holding careers as digital content writer, marketing strategist, email marketing specialist and beyond, our marketing major is 100% relevant for such a fast-paced, ever-evolving industry.
CONSIDER A MANAGEMENT MAJOR IF…
Are you really good at making decisions, or want to be? Love the idea of leading a team of people to success, honing your entrepreneurial skills and taking courses in topics like the cross-cultural and global economic issues that have an impact on doing business? At Siena, management majors go on to become project managers, directors of business development and marketing managers at places like the Special Olympics in New York, Mazzone Hospitality, Tri-City Valley Cats, KPMG and Nielsen Company. We’re huge on hands-on experiences like simulations and live cases, and our professors have extensive experience as CEOs, textbook authors and entrepreneurs.
CONSIDER A BUSINESS MAJOR IF...
If you want a broad-based education in business with the opportunity to also dig deep into several concentrations, this is the place to be. Ask yourself if any of these concentrations pique your interest: food marketing, sports and services marketing, nonprofit management, corporate finance, public policy and economics, entrepreneurship and the list goes on. For those wanting to be a sort of Jack-of-all-trades in the business world, our business major will empower you to leave Siena with a degree that lists not one, but multiple specialities. You’ll join the ranks of alumni who work at Amazon, Bloomberg, J. Crew, Target, Walt Disney World and more.
CONSIDER A FINANCE MAJOR IF…
First off, finance and accounting share some similarities in terms of coursework and outcomes. And it’s important to note that the job outlook for careers in both fields is fantastic, and, like our accounting program, Siena produces finance grads who are very successful. They’re working for AYCO, JP Morgan Chase, New York Life Insurance, Northwestern Mutual, General Electric and beyond. So what’s really the difference between accounting and finance?
Accounting has a relatively narrow focus, while finance is wider-ranging, covering many careers like commercial banking, financial consulting, trading, hedge fund management, investment banking and more.
AND BY THE WAY
Siena’s School of Business is AACSB-accredited, and not all schools are. (Including ones you’d think would be!) What’s that mean? An AACSB accreditation is a distinction given to very few schools across the world, schools that are considered to have the best business programs with faculty who meet very high standards of teaching and research.
So no matter what major you choose (and you can always change, or come in undecided) in our School of Business, you’ll graduate with a prestigious degree that employers respect.
Want to take a chance now and apply?
