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The Finance Spartan Accelerated Graduate Education (SAGE) Program  provides students the opportunity to earn their Business Administration, Finance Concentration, BS   and Financial Analytics, MS  degrees simultaneously, completing both degrees in five years, rather than the usual six years when completing them individually.The SAGE Scholars Program Coordinator works closely with the students to ensure a seamless transition from undergraduate to graduate status, without students having to file a formal application for admission to the graduate program. 

Total SAGE Program Units (BS + MS) 144

Admission Requirements

All finance undergraduates are eligible to apply for, and be admitted to, the SAGE Finance program in Spring semester of their junior year if they fulfill the following requirements by June 1 of that year: 

• Completed a minimum of 90 units towards the BS degree;
• Completed BUS1 170 (Fundamentals of Finance) and BUS2 90 (Business Statistics) with grades of B or better;
• Have a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or better, or GPA of 3.2 or better in the last 60 semester units;
• Completed all lower division GE requirements.

In cases where demand from qualified applicants exceeds available placements in the program, admission decisions will be determined by evaluating student GPAs, performance in prerequisite courses, and conducting interviews.

Those who qualify for the SAGE program but are not admitted are eligible for regular MSF admission.

Graduate Standing Requirements

Requirements for program continuation and advancement to candidacy in the graduate program, include:

• Maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher with no individual course grade below a C.
• Students not maintaining these standards will be placed on probation initially, followed by disqualification if grades are not improved.
• A GPA of 3.0 is required to earn the SAGE Finance degree.

Culminating Experience

The culminating experience will take place in the capstone course BUS 270D . The course focuses on the study of corporate finance problems integrating finance theory and business practice. Topics include assessing financial condition; valuation, cash flow and capital budgeting analysis; and decision-making pertaining to working capital, capital expenditures, capital allocation, capital structure, payout policy, IPOs, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and corporate governance. The students are assigned a complex case study based on publicly available data which integrate accounting & financial knowledge, technology, and corporate strategical considerations. Students may propose themselves a case study based on actual private or publicly available data, conditional on the approval of the course instructor and program director. Students work on the case study and write a report in a professional format summarizing their analysis and findings. An oral presentation is also required.