Consumer Affairs Concentration

The Consumer Affairs concentration offers an applied approach to understanding consumers in home and market environments.  With coursework in consumer economics, consumer policy, consumer communications, and family resource management, the Consumer Affairs concentration prepares students for careers as consumer specialists in government, business, research, and non-profit settings.  This concentration builds students’ capacity to analyze markets and matters of personal finance from the perspective of consumers, and to communicate these issues to stakeholders.

Graduates enjoy careers as analysts, entrepreneurs, sales professionals, customer care and engagement specialists and financial professionals, and similar positions in private, public, and non-profit sectors. The skills learned in this concentration also prepare students for law school and graduate school.


Curriculum - BS in HES, Consumer Sciences, concentration in Consumer Affairs

This 120 semester hour program includes General Education requirements, 6 hours HES requirements, Major requirements, Consumer Affairs concentration requirements, and electives.

Consumer Sciences (Required)
  • CSM 201 Individual Family Resource Management
  • CSM 204 Introduction to Personal Financial Planning
  • CSM 225 Confidence in Conflict: Skills for Consumers
  • CSM 303 Consumer Decisions
  • CSM 381 Consumer Marketing Management
  • CSM 401 Consumer Protection
  • ST 260 Statistical Data Analysis  or  BER 345 Educational Statistics

Consumer Affairs Concentration
  • CSM 403 Consumer Economics
  • CSM 415 Customer Service Management
  • CSM 441 Consumer Communications
  • CSM 447 Advanced Digital Tools

CSM Upper Division Courses (Choose 3)
  • CSM 405 Public Policy Family and Community Resources
  • CSM 435 Psychology of Money
  • CSM 440 Maximizing Social Media Marketing
  • CSM 451 Consumer Demographics and Trends
  • CSM 455 Consumer Analytic Methods
  • CSM 459 Techniques of Counseling in Consumer Sciences​​​​

Additional Consumer Science Electives (Choose 2)
  • CSM 104 You and Your Money 
  • CSM 227 The Power of Emotional Intelligence
  • CSM 428 Processes of Negotiation
  • CSM 430 Family and Consumer Law
  • CSM 437 Developing the Leader Within
  • CSM 445 Computers in Consumer Sciences​
  • CSM 461 Managing in a High Performance Organization
  • CSM 486 Principled Negotiation


View more information about this program through the University’s catalog. Please note that courses are subject to change.
This program is offered on main campus and online. To apply for the online program, visit UA Online.