News

Dalton State Adds Financial Technology Minor

09/19/19

Students at Dalton State can now be better positioned to enter the workforce by adding a minor in financial technology.  

The minor, which focuses on skills in ecommerce and cybersecurity, can be added to any of the six business majors or the technology management major.

Georgia is a leader in in financial technology with 70 percent of all global financial transactions handled by corporations based in the state. Degrees in financial technology are in high demand, according to Dr. Lorraine Gardiner, professor of management information systems at Dalton State. By 2020, an estimated 5,000 financial technology professionals will be required to fill jobs in the state of Georgia, she said.

“This is an important minor for business students, particularly for management information systems majors as well as finance and applied economics majors,” said Dr. Marilyn Helms, dean of the Wright School of Business. “Having this emerging minor on a business student's transcript will differentiate them in the job market. These students completing the minor can offer banks, insurance companies and a host of business organizations this expertise to improve and secure their ecommerce and payment platforms."

The financial technology minor combines online and on-campus classes and is the result of a consortium comprised of other University System of Georgia institutions. It was made possible thanks to a grant from the Georgia FinTech Academy, a collaboration between the state financial technology industry and University System of Georgia. The academy is an online talent development initiative designed to power the future of the global economy.

“The collaboration with the Georgia FinTech Academy provides our students the opportunity to study financial technology in classes taught by experts across Georgia and through online courses,” Gardiner said.