BUSI 3300: Introduction to Personal Finance
1. What Is BUSI 3300 About?
BUSI 3300: Introduction to Personal Finance is a University of Houston course that introduces students to the financial principles and practical skills needed to manage personal finances, make informed financial decisions, and work toward financial independence.
The course focuses on everyday financial activities, including budgeting, managing income and expenses, building credit, borrowing money, saving, investing, and planning for future financial needs. Students also explore insurance, taxation, retirement, and estate planning.
Rather than focusing only on financial concepts, BUSI 3300 emphasizes applying them to real-life situations. Students work with personal financial information to develop cash flow statements, create spending and savings plans, and assess their financial position.
Course details
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Course Code | BUSI 3300 |
| Course Title | Introduction to Personal Finance |
| University | University of Houston |
| Semester | — |
| Section | — |
| Course Format | Face-to-face |
| Meeting Days | Tuesday and Thursday |
| Meeting Time | 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. |
| Location | Melcher Hall, Room 126 |
| Prerequisite | Completion of or concurrent enrollment in MATH 1314 or higher |
| Department | Department of Finance |
| Required Material | Know Yourself, Grow Your Wealth |
Students cannot receive credit for both BUSI 3300 (formerly GENB 3300) and FINA 4328: Principles of Personal Finance.
2. What Do Students Learn in BUSI 3300?
BUSI 3300 helps students understand how personal financial decisions affect their current financial position and long-term financial well-being.
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
- Apply fundamental personal finance principles: Understand how financial decisions, personal goals, and external influences affect financial well-being.
- Create and manage personal budgets: Prepare budgets, cash flow statements, and balance sheets to monitor income, expenses, assets, and liabilities.
- Manage credit and debt: Interpret credit reports and scores, understand borrowing costs, and explore strategies for managing debt.
- Understand risk management and insurance: Identify financial risks and learn how insurance and other strategies can help protect assets.
- Explore investment and retirement planning: Become familiar with investment options, financial accounts, and approaches to building long-term financial security.
- Understand taxation and estate planning: Learn basic tax concepts and explore financial arrangements and documents used in estate planning.
- Use financial tools and resources: Become familiar with resources that support financial planning and greater financial independence.
The course combines financial knowledge with practical activities that encourage students to evaluate their own financial habits and make informed decisions.
3. BUSI 3300 Course Topics
The BUSI 3300 curriculum is organized around eight major topics that move from understanding personal financial behavior to managing money, building assets, and planning for the future.
| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
| Money Values and Influences | Explore personal values, financial goals, and external influences that shape financial decisions. |
| Banking, Income, and Expenses | Examine financial products and services, track income and expenses, and learn how to save for goals and emergencies. |
| Personal Financial Documents | Develop spending and savings plans and learn how to prioritize expenses when money is limited. |
| Borrowing Basics and Debt Management | Understand borrowing options, credit reports, credit scores, credit cards, and strategies for managing debt. |
| Assets and Asset Building | Explore home purchases, mortgages, car loans, housing options, investments, risk, and return. |
| Risk Management and Insurance | Study financial risks and the role of health, life, and property and casualty insurance in protecting assets. |
| Personal Taxation | Learn how income taxes work, including tax systems, deductions, capital gains, and tax-advantaged accounts. |
| Estate Planning | Gain an introduction to planning for the transfer and management of assets, including essential documents and financial arrangements. |
These topics are interconnected. Students begin by examining their financial priorities and daily money habits, then learn how to manage cash flow, use credit responsibly, and build assets. The later topics address protecting accumulated wealth and preparing for future financial needs.
4. How Is BUSI 3300 Structured?
BUSI 3300 uses a combination of in-person lectures, in-class quizzes, practical financial projects, and online learning modules.
The course meets twice a week for 90-minute sessions. Class discussions and lectures introduce personal finance concepts, while assignments give students opportunities to apply what they learn.
The main components of the course include:
- Lectures and discussions: Cover eight major personal finance topics, from money values and banking to taxation and estate planning.
- In-class quizzes: Short multiple-choice assessments held at the end of most class periods to reinforce material covered during the lesson.
- Cash Flow Project: Students track income and expenses throughout a month and prepare a cash flow statement.
- Spending and Savings Plan Project: Students use their spending records to set financial goals and develop a plan for reaching them.
- Personal Balance Sheet: Students prepare a financial statement showing their assets, liabilities, and net worth, accompanied by a short reflection.
- Online learning modules: Students complete the Know Yourself, Grow Your Wealth® activities outside class and submit evidence of earned badges through Canvas.
The course combines classroom participation with independent work. Students are expected to attend and engage with lessons, monitor their finances for project work, and complete online modules according to their deadlines.
5. What Assignments Are in BUSI 3300?
BUSI 3300 includes five graded assignment categories. Most of the coursework focuses on applying financial concepts rather than simply recalling definitions.
In-Class Quizzes
In-class quizzes account for 20% of the final grade. These are brief multiple-choice assessments administered at the end of most class periods.
Each quiz covers material discussed during that day’s lesson. The quizzes are designed to reinforce the main concepts and encourage class attendance rather than trick students with confusing questions.
Students who miss class can request makeup quizzes or assignments through Canvas. Makeup work covers the same lesson material and can be completed for up to full credit.
Cash Flow Project
The Cash Flow Project accounts for 20% of the final grade.
Students track their financial inflows and outflows over the course of a month. They then use this information to prepare a cash flow statement showing how money moves through their personal finances.
The project helps students understand their spending patterns, identify where their money goes, and develop practical money management skills.
Spending and Savings Plan Project
The Spending and Savings Plan Project is worth 20% of the final grade.
Using information collected during the cash flow exercise, students establish personal financial goals and create a spending and savings plan to help achieve them.
Students continue tracking their spending during the following month so they can review and adjust their plans as needed.
Personal Balance Sheet
The Personal Balance Sheet assignment contributes 10% of the final grade.
Students prepare a comprehensive personal balance sheet that identifies their assets, liabilities, and net worth. They also write a short reflection on their current financial situation.
This assignment introduces students to an important financial document used to evaluate an individual’s overall financial position.
Know Yourself, Grow Your Wealth Assignments
These online learning activities account for 30% of the final grade.
Students complete four modules from the Know Yourself, Grow Your Wealth® program and earn badges associated with each module.
| Assignment | Fall 2026 Due Date |
|---|---|
| Financial Wellness Badge | September 11, 2026 |
| Brilliant Borrower Badge | September 25, 2026 |
| Savvy Investor Badge | October 16, 2026 |
| Wealth & Legacy Badge | November 6, 2026 |
Students complete these modules outside class and submit screenshots of their earned badges to Canvas on or before the corresponding deadlines.
The syllabus notes that due dates are subject to change. Students should check Canvas for additional details and updated deadlines.
6. BUSI 3300 Grading Breakdown
The final grade in BUSI 3300 is based on five categories of assignments and assessments.
| Assessment | Percentage |
|---|---|
| In-Class Quizzes | 20% |
| Cash Flow Project | 20% |
| Spending and Savings Plan Project | 20% |
| Personal Balance Sheet | 10% |
| Know Yourself, Grow Your Wealth® Assignments | 30% |
| Total | 100% |
The online Know Yourself, Grow Your Wealth assignments carry the largest individual grading weight at 30%. The cash flow and spending and savings projects together account for 40% of the final grade.
This distribution means students need to balance their performance across quizzes, practical financial projects, and independent online coursework rather than relying on a single major examination.
The provided syllabus does not specify the letter-grade cutoffs or a separate final examination.
7. What Readings and Materials Are Used in BUSI 3300?
The required instructional material for BUSI 3300 is Know Yourself, Grow Your Wealth (KYGYW), developed by the American College of Financial Services.
The program provides online learning modules that support the course’s major financial themes.
Students use the material to complete four graded badge activities:
- Financial Wellness: Focuses on foundational financial well-being.
- Brilliant Borrower: Relates to borrowing and responsible debt management.
- Savvy Investor: Supports learning about investing.
- Wealth & Legacy: Addresses wealth and legacy planning.
Students can access the program through the registration link provided in the syllabus. A Spanish-language version is also available.
The syllabus does not list additional required textbooks, films, or supplementary readings.
8. BUSI 3300 Weekly Topics
The Fall 2026 syllabus organizes the course into eight major lecture and discussion topics. However, it does not provide a detailed week-by-week schedule assigning each topic to specific class dates.
The following table presents the topics in the order given in the syllabus.
| Topic | Main Areas Covered |
|---|---|
| Topic 1: Introduction — Your Money Values and Influences | Personal values, goals, external influences, and financial decision-making. |
| Topic 2: Bank on It & Income/Expenses | Financial institutions, financial products and services, tracking income and expenses, and saving for emergencies and goals. |
| Topic 3: Personal Financial Documents | Spending and savings plans, financial documents, and prioritizing spending when money is limited. |
| Topic 4: Borrowing Basics & Managing Debt | Borrowing options, borrowing costs, credit reports, credit scores, credit histories, credit cards, and debt management. |
| Topic 5: Assets & Asset Building | Home buying, mortgages, car loans, housing and renting options, investments, risk and return, and the time value of money. |
| Topic 6: Protecting Your Assets | Risk management strategies and the basics of health, life, and property and casualty insurance. |
| Topic 7: Personal Taxation | Income taxes, progressive and regressive taxes, deductions, capital gains, and tax-advantaged account strategies. |
| Topic 8: Estate Planning | The importance of planning for after one’s passing, essential documents, and estate planning accounts and arrangements. |
The progression begins with personal financial behavior and everyday money management before moving into borrowing, asset building, financial protection, and long-term planning.
Specific lecture dates, the number of weeks spent on each topic, and the order of individual assignments beyond the stated deadlines are not provided in the syllabus.
9. What Skills Can Students Develop in BUSI 3300?
BUSI 3300 is designed to develop practical financial skills that students can use to manage their own finances.
Key skills include:
- Budgeting and cash flow management: Track income and expenses, prepare financial statements, and identify spending patterns.
- Financial planning: Set personal financial goals and create spending and savings plans to achieve them.
- Credit and debt management: Understand credit reports, credit scores, borrowing costs, and debt management strategies.
- Financial analysis: Assess assets, liabilities, and net worth using personal financial documents.
- Investment awareness: Understand basic investment concepts, risk and return, and investment account options.
- Risk management: Recognize financial risks and understand how insurance can protect against potential losses.
- Tax planning awareness: Develop a basic understanding of taxes, deductions, capital gains, and tax-advantaged accounts.
- Long-term financial planning: Explore retirement and estate planning options and the financial resources available to support financial independence.
- Financial decision-making: Evaluate how personal values, financial goals, and external influences affect money-related choices.
The practical projects are particularly important for developing these skills because they require students to work with financial information and apply course concepts to real situations.
10. What Should Students Expect in BUSI 3300?
Students taking BUSI 3300 should expect a practical course that combines classroom learning with independent financial activities.
Several aspects of the course are especially important.
- Regular attendance and participation: Quizzes take place at the end of most class sessions, making consistent attendance useful for keeping up with assessments.
- Frequent short assessments: Students should review the material covered during each class because in-class quizzes reinforce recently taught concepts.
- Personal financial tracking: The cash flow and spending and savings projects require students to monitor their income and expenses over consecutive months.
- Independent online coursework: The four Know Yourself, Grow Your Wealth modules must be completed outside class.
- Multiple assignment deadlines: Students need to manage several types of coursework, including quizzes, financial projects, and online badge submissions.
- Practical application: The course emphasizes preparing financial documents and developing plans rather than studying personal finance concepts only in theory.
- Financial self-reflection: Students will evaluate aspects of their own financial situations through assignments such as the personal balance sheet and spending plan.
Students who stay organized, track their financial information consistently, and complete online activities before their deadlines will be better positioned to manage the course workload.
The syllabus also provides a makeup option for missed in-class quizzes through Canvas, allowing students who miss class to complete alternative work for up to full credit.
