Bachelor’s in Fintech Degree Programs

Are you interested in exploring how emerging technologies can be used to make the financial industry more efficient? Do you want to see if a bachelor’s degree in fintech is a good fit for you? If so, you’ve come to the right place!

This guide will help you discover how the fintech degree emerged, the types of financial technology degree programs available, which schools offer these programs, and what type of coursework you can expect when pursuing a bachelor’s degree in fintech.

The Emergence of Fintech Degrees

Fintech degrees are starting to emerge as official degree programs at schools across the country, with students no longer needing to piece together related majors—like finance, computer science, and programming—in order to prepare for a fintech career. Instead, schools are organizing official programs that equip students for fintech jobs.

At the time of this writing, over 40 schools have thrown their hat in the ring by launching undergraduate fintech programs, including notable ones at Virginia Tech and the University of Utah.

In some cases, schools have added fintech to existing curriculums by creating fintech minors, such as Lehigh University’s minor in fintech, or degree specializations, such as Northeastern University’s fintech concentration.

Others have gone all in with stand-alone financial technology degrees, including New Jersey Institute of Technology’s BS in Financial Technology. And more schools have fintech programs in the pipeline, giving students plenty of options to choose from.

What Are Fintech Degrees?

A bachelor’s degree in fintech is a four-year undergraduate program focusing on the intersection of finance, data analytics, computer science, and computation modeling, which is becoming increasingly utilized in the financial world.

Most fintech programs include traditional finance coursework with an emphasis on the evolution and innovation of technology used in the field, which can include

• Financial modeling
• Machine learning and AI
• Data mining
• Blockchain
• Data analytics

Students pursuing fintech degrees hope to gain the necessary skills and knowledge to secure competitive employment in the modern-day financial markets following graduation. Such programs are designed for those who want to apply modern tools or to design new applications and processes that can improve the financial sector.

Overall, students completing fintech degree programs are preparing for careers in finance, technology, and entrepreneurship such as

• Investment banking
• Commercial banking
• Fintech startups
• Insurance
• Insuretech
• Cybersecurity
• Alternative lending
• Information technology
• Algorithmic trading
• International finance

Types of Fintech Degrees

Bachelor’s degrees in fintech are fairly new and can vary significantly from one another, depending on the college or university offering it. Some different versions of bachelor’s in fintech degrees currently offered at four-year universities include

• BS in Fintech/Financial Technology
• BS in a related subject like Business Administration or Finance with a Fintech concentration
• Fintech minors that can be attached to nearly any undergraduate degree program

Given the variety of degree programs out there for fintech, it’s important to consider the different formats, and find what works best for you, your skills, and your interests. If you’re passionate about financial technology then a BS in Fintech might be your best choice; alternatively, if you’re interested, but not completely sold on fintech, then a minor or concentration is a more logical choice.

Bachelor’s in Fintech Curriculum and Coursework

Almost every university requires students pursuing a bachelor’s in fintech degree to complete 120–130 hours of coursework, with 30–60 credits coming from your fintech major.

Students enrolled in fintech programs typically explore foundational concepts in both finance and technology, aside from the general and elective requirements that each university may have for all degree programs (e.g., communications or liberal arts courses).

Typical Coursework

As students progress through the bachelor’s of fintech program, they will face more specialized courses for technology use and applications in the financial markets. Courses may include the following:

• Business Foundations: Students in fintech programs will need to complete coursework related to basic business principles like accounting, microeconomics, macroeconomics, marketing, business law, and other core concepts.
• Investment Management: Fintech programs often contain courses covering the basics of portfolio management and valuation techniques, and other courses where students can put these theories into practice.
• Corporate Finance: Other financial courses will cover how companies invest in real assets and raise capital to fund those investments, covering concepts like the time value of money (TVM).
• Foundations of FinTech: Fintech degree programs typically include coursework around the foundations of the field and how it continues to evolve and disrupt financial markets.
• Data and Information Management: Students should be prepared to learn basic concepts about information management, databases, hardware, and software in the context of financial and business.
• Financial Modeling: Students studying fintech will need to understand emerging modeling tools including regression analysis, Monte Carlo simulation, forecasting, and binomial trees—and how to apply these in financial contexts.
• Financial Data Analytics: Many schools will require students to learn data analytics for common and real-world finance applications, often with Python as a primary programming language.
• Blockchain Technology for Business: Students should be prepared to explore the basics of blockchain technology and its practical applications in the financial industry.
• AI for Business Decisions: Students will learn about the practical applications of artificial intelligence in the financial markets, which include NLP, chatbots, Big Data, and other uses.

Review NJIT’s BS in FinTech program schedule for an excellent example of a fintech program curriculum. Students complete introductory coursework early, along with electives and core requirements, before moving to upper-level coursework later in the program.

Fintech Skills to Develop

While in their fintech undergraduate program, students should expect to develop skills related to mathematics, statistics, and computational modeling, aside from the financial and general business knowledge they gain.

More specifically, students studying fintech should become comfortable with programming, blockchain concepts, applied statistics, data science, machine learning, and AI-based programs to best prepare for a career in fintech.

The coursework of each fintech degree program will help students become adept in these skills, though it’s important to know that most fintech degree programs appear to focus just as much on the highly specialized and technical skills as on the financial and business skills.

Online Fintech Bachelor’s Degrees

Unfortunately, most colleges offering fintech bachelor’s degrees have not yet made them available online. But if you’re set on an online program, one option is Purdue Global’s BS in Finance with a Fintech concentration. Students can expect a rigorous curriculum filled with group projects and presentations, plus a capstone requirement where they tackle a real-world challenge.

And if a fintech master’s degree is in your future, you can accelerate the process through Purdue Global’s combined BS-MS in Finance. While options are limited for now, there’s been a rapid rise in the number of Master’s in Fintech programs offered online. That’s why we anticipate additional online bachelor’s in fintech programs to emerge soon. Keep your eye on the space in the coming years.