UNDERGRADUATE
Risk Management
Make confident decisions in uncertain environments and build the skills to help organizations protect what matters most.
Prepared for the Unexpected
Risk touches every part of business: operations, finance, law, strategy, and markets.
At Penn State Smeal College of Business, you'll build the analytical and decision-making skills to identify and evaluate risk, and help organizations respond.
Through coursework, leadership opportunities, and hands-on experiences, you'll learn to:
Analyze operational, financial, legal, strategic, and market risks
Evaluate potential outcomes and make decisions with incomplete information
Develop strategies that protect assets, support growth, and strengthen organizational performance
Apply analytical and financial tools to evaluate investments, assets, and business opportunities
Translate risk analysis into clear, actionable recommendations for decision-makers
What You'll Study
Featured Courses
Risk and Decisions (RM 301): Use probability, statistics & decision analysis to evaluate uncertainty and compare alternatives.
Risk Management and Insurance (RM 302): Examine risk financing through insurance and other mechanisms.
Corporate Risk Management (RM 405): Study how businesses manage operational, financial, legal & strategic risks.
What You Can Do with a Risk Management Degree
Financial Examiners & Compliance Professionals
Evaluate financial activities, monitor regulatory compliance, and help organizations manage legal and operational risk. Median salary: $90,400
Risk Analysts & Enterprise Risk Managers
Identify, assess, and manage operational, financial, cyber, and strategic risks that could affect organizational performance. Median salary: $106,000
Risk Consultants & Advisory Professionals
Help organizations evaluate risk exposures, strengthen internal controls, and develop strategies to address operational, financial, and regulatory challenges. Median salary: $101,190
82%
Placement Rate
$70,217
Average Starting Salary
Apply Risk Management Beyond the Classroom
Internships With Industry Leaders
Smeal Risk Management students have interned with firms that return regularly to recruit full-time like EY, NJM Insurance Group, Risk Strategies, Independence Blue Cross, Transamerica, and NextEra Energy.
Laboratory for Economics Management and Auctions (LEMA)
Study how individuals and organizations make decisions under uncertainty through simulations, negotiations, market experiments, and applied research—one of the few university labs focused entirely on decision-making behavior.
Is Risk Management Right for You?
Risk Management Is a Strong Fit If You:
Enjoy understanding and managing uncertainty
Like making decisions with incomplete information
Are interested in business, finance, law, and strategy
Enjoy solving complex problems without one right answer
Want practical skills applicable across many industries
Are curious about how organizations identify and prepare for potential risks
Apply to Smeal
Understand uncertainty. Evaluate tradeoffs. Help organizations make better decisions.
Connect With Us
Penn State Undergraduate Admissions
Smeal College of BusinessSmeal Undergraduate Advising
Department of Risk Management
More Information: Risk Management Degree
Risk Management (RM) explores how organizations identify, assess, and manage interconnected risks across operations, finance, technology, compliance, and strategy. You’ll learn frameworks used by businesses to evaluate uncertainty, support decision-making, and strengthen long-term organizational performance.
Understanding the cost of your education is an important part of the college decision process. Explore tuition information, financial aid resources, and planning tools to help you estimate the investment required for your Penn State degree.
Many Risk Management students complement their major with the Legal Environment of Business (LEBUS) minor. Through coursework in business law, contracts, employment law, regulatory compliance, and dispute resolution, you'll develop a deeper understanding of the legal issues that influence risk assessment and business decision-making.
The Real Estate Analysis & Development (READ) Certificate provides additional coursework in investment analysis, development, negotiation, and finance. Students can use the certificate to expand their understanding of commercial real estate while building specialized knowledge beyond the major curriculum.
AI is changing how organizations identify threats, assess uncertainty, and detect emerging risks. But the judgment to decide which risks matter, how much they matter, and what to do about them still belongs to people. At Penn State Smeal, the Risk Management curriculum is built around exactly that judgment, so you're prepared for both the tools that are changing and the decisions that always will be yours to make.