Master of Science in Finance (MSF) Curriculum

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A Flexible, Career-Focused Finance Curriculum

The Master of Science in Finance (MSF) is a broad and flexible graduate program in finance. The MSF program is designed to be a 3-semester residential program. The curriculum consists of required courses and elective courses. Students need to complete a minimum of 40 graduate level credits, at least 28 of which, including preparatory and required classes, are in Finance.

Quick Facts

40 total graduate credit hours required
10 credit hours of required finance courses
28 credit hours of finance electives
2 credit hours of professional development
0–10 preparatory course credit hours
ESL courses as required
Flexible curriculum tailored to student background and career goals

Preparatory Courses

Preparatory courses: MSF students come from a variety of academic backgrounds and do not necessarily have prior training in business or finance. Students who need to strengthen their foundational knowledge in key areas can take preparatory courses during their first semester. We offer four preparatory courses in both the fall and spring semesters: accounting (FIN 504), finance (FIN 500), Python programming (FIN 558), and statistics (FIN 502).

Required Courses

The program is focused on providing a flexible set of classes for students to tailor to their own specific career aims. There are only three required courses in the program:

FIN 501 Financial Economics

FIN 501 Financial Economics - 4 Credit Hours Firms’ long-run value ultimately depend on their business fundamentals. This course covers micro- and macro-economic drivers of such fundamentals, such as consumer demand, market competitiveness, government regulation, interest rates, business cycles, and monetary policy. Also includes topics in risk and intertemporal decision-making. 4 Credit Hours

FIN 511 Investments

FIN 511 Investments - 4 Credit Hours Introduction to investment analysis, including the theory and implementation of portfolio theory, empirical evidence on the performance of financial assets, evaluation of portfolio investment strategies, and the extension of diversification to international markets. 4 Credit Hours

FIN 581 Professional Development OR FIN 585/586 MSF Academy

FIN 581 Professional Development or FIN 585/586 MSF Academy

FIN 581 Professional Development

Effective communication skills are one of the most sought-after traits of business leaders across industries and throughout the world. Understanding the world around you, as well as communicating clearly and persuasively is critical to your success as a student, as an employee, and as a leader in the business world. These skills will help establish your own credibility and lead you to become an effective leader among your peers and colleagues. This course will introduce successful strategies for structuring both written and verbal communication in the business world, with an eye toward the specific outcomes listed below. 2 Credit Hours

FIN 585/586 MSF Academy

The primary course objective is to foster students’ understanding and articulation of common industry practices, pertinent issues, and the students’ own experience and coursework that prepares them to perform professional activities in their fields of interest. Students will use their own research to assess initial and future areas for development towards their readiness to attain entry level roles and support career progression. Additional objectives include ongoing awareness of current industry issues, events, and practices, enhancing career placement related skills, and setting a foundation to build and maintain a network of industry participants. 2 Credit Hours

Specializations

The MSF program offers courses in the following areas of finance: asset management, corporate finance, data analytics and fintech, quantitative finance, and finance research. Students can specialize in one of these areas by following a specialization track. By specializing in a specific area of finance, students become more marketable to employers in that area. A minimum of 16 credits of courses in any chosen area is needed to be awarded a specialization.