Finance

The Master of Science in Finance program is designed to provide an opportunity to students to have a well-rounded understanding of finance. Our program will provide students with specialized knowledge of financial securities, financial markets and institutions, foreign exchange markets, risk metrics investment criteria, capital budgeting techniques and hedging strategies. It can also help to prepare students for various professional certifications, such as the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) certification and the Certified Financial Planner (CFP). This graduate degree program is housed in the AACSB-accredited Kania School of Management. Students can choose to earn this degree entirely online or on-campus.

The Program of Study

Courses for this program may be completed on a full-time or part-time basis. With appropriate planning, it may be possible that students can complete the degree in 12 months of full-time study. Students must take eight required courses in the program, two three-credit electives. In addition, students can participate in an optional on-campus residency. The residency normally will take place during the week of the graduation ceremony. The interactive residency includes three days of coursework utilizing Bloomberg terminals located in the Alperin Financial Center.

Student Learning Goals and Objectives

1. Core of Finance Knowledge

• Each student will acquire a comprehensive knowledge of the core concepts in Finance.

        Students will demonstrate the ability to comprehend the performance of financial markets and institutions, manage investments, portfolios and the use of 

        derivative securities.

        Students will demonstrate the ability to solve basic valuation, risk, return and optimization problems analytically.

2. Analytical Skills

• Each student will be capable of analyzing information to make sound critical financial decisions.

        Students will develop or identify and solve advanced financial problems by integrating the skills learned in the core Finance area.

        Students will evaluate financial data, documents and other market sources to support financial decisions.

        Students will develop the skills to analyze financial statements and market data.

3. Research Skills

• Each student will possess the research skills needed to study domestic and global financial issues.

        Students will develop a knowledge of appropriate statistical/econometric techniques to identify and evaluate complex financial issues.

        Students will use appropriate technologies in gathering and analyzing domestic and international (country, market and firm-specific) data relevant to financial

        decision-making.

        Students will write comprehensive research reports or projects, recommending solutions to managers and investors.                                                                      

4. Value System

• Each student will be ethical, socially responsible, and just when making financial decisions.

        Students will evaluate financial decisions within an ethical framework.

        Students will critique financial decisions on the basis of social responsibility.

        Students will evaluate financial decisions with regard to their impacts on environmental sustainability.

Application to the Program

• All applicants must submit the following documents to be considered for acceptance:
• Application for Admission
• Statement of Intent;
• Official transcripts from all schools attended. A bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited US college of university, or the equivalent from an international college of university, is required. Undergraduate GPA for regular admission is 3.00 (on a 4.00 scale);
• International Students Only: Proof of English proficiency by submitting TOEFL, STEP or IELTS scores;
• Three letters of Reference (at least one of these letters must be from a supervisor or other professional reference);
• Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) or Graduate Record Examination (GRE) score. For the summer 2021 and fall 2021 terms, the GMAT/GRE requirements will be waived due to testing limitations surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. In general, the GMAT or GRE requirement may be waived for applicants who possess three or more years of relevant supervisory or professional experience, or possess CFA, CFP or an MBA or doctoral degree in a business-related program from a regionally accredited school. These applicants will be asked to provide a written response to a case depicting a hypothetical business scenario. The exercise is intended to measure the applicants writing and critical thinking skills, facility with numeric data as well as attitudes toward ethics and social-justice issues (case study will be provided during the application process).

Entering students should possess the requisite background knowledge in the relevant business functional areas. These include the areas of statistics, accounting, economics, and finance. Students lacking such background will be required to remedy the deficiency by taking up to six (6) one (1) credit qualifying courses (known as foundational modules).

MBA 501A   Statistics Module

MBA 502A  Financial Accounting Module

MBA 502B  Managerial Accounting Module

MBA 503A  Microeconomics Module

MBA 503B  Macroeconomics Module

MBA 503C  Finance Module

These modules may be taken concurrently with the regular courses in the MS in Finance program as long as any specific course prerequisite condition is not violated. A student may elect to take an equivalent undergraduate course or pass a challenge exam instead of the module. Graduate students are expected to complete all provisional requirements (foundational modules) within their first year of enrollment in the program.

Many students have acquired experiential learning outside a formal college or university classroom in jobs or military service. A foundation module may be waived for such experience. Students wishing to have their learning assessed for possible course waiver must document relevant experience and the knowledge gained for review by faculty of the program.

Curriculum

Total Program Credits: 30