Finance MS
Major: Finance
Degree Awarded: Master of Science in Finance (MS)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Minimum Required Credits: 45.0
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code: 52.0304
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 11-3031
Please note: This program is temporarily not accepting new students.
About the Program
The Master of Science in Finance is designed to develop skills to make important strategic financial decisions using data-driven insights. The program offers the option of pursuing a specialization in Strategic Finance and Risk, Corporate Finance, Investments, or FinTech. It is designed to prepare you for a wide range of careers, including those in business valuation, portfolio management, credit analysis, and the financial services industry. Course content is also aligned with sections of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) and Financial Risk Manager (FRM®) exams.
Additional Information
For more information about the program, please contact the Department of Finance.
Degree Requirements
| Required Courses | ||
| BUSN 501 | Measuring and Maximizing Financial Performance | 3.0 |
| or ACCT 510 | Essentials of Financial Reporting | |
| FIN 601 | Corporate Financial Management | 3.0 |
| Students may choose (1) one of the following Specializations | 15.0 | |
| Strategic Finance and Risk | ||
| Comparative Financial Analysis | ||
| Select (4) four of the following: | ||
| Advanced Financial Management | ||
| Business Valuation | ||
| Risk Management | ||
| Investment Management | ||
| Corporate Governance | ||
| Mergers and Acquisitions | ||
| Seminar in Finance | ||
| Sustainability and Value Creation | ||
| Negotiations for Leaders | ||
| Corporate Finance | ||
| Advanced Financial Management | ||
| Select (4) four of the following: | ||
| Managerial Accounting | ||
| Corporate Governance | ||
| Environmental and Social Issues in Finance | ||
| Entrepreneurial Finance | ||
| Mergers and Acquisitions | ||
| International Financial Management | ||
| Comparative Financial Analysis | ||
| Seminar in Finance | ||
| Investments | ||
| Investment Management | ||
| Select (4) four of the following: | ||
| Financial Institutions & Markets | ||
| Risk Management | ||
| FinTech | ||
| Behavioral Finance | ||
| International Financial Management | ||
| Comparative Financial Analysis | ||
| Derivative Securities | ||
| Seminar in Investments | ||
| Statistics for Business Analytics | ||
| FinTech | ||
| FinTech | ||
| Select (4) four of the following: | ||
| Advanced Financial Management | ||
| Financial Institutions & Markets | ||
| Entrepreneurial Finance | ||
| Business Conditions and Forecasting | ||
| Comparative Financial Analysis | ||
| Python Programming for Business Applications | ||
| Datamining for Managers | ||
| Non-Specialization | ||
Students who do not choose a Specialization can complete 39 credits in the following subject codes: Accounting (ACCT), Statistics (STAT), Economics (ECON), Finance (FIN), General Business (BUSN), International Business (INTB), Legal Studies (BLAW), Management (MGMT), Management Information Systems (MIS), Marketing (MKTG), Operations management (OPM), Operations Research (OPR), Organizational Behavior (ORGB), Production Operations Management (POM), Sport Management (SMT) or Taxation (TAX), with course number range between 600-799, and a maximum of fifteen (15) credits can be from outside the area of Finance (FIN) | ||
| Required Elective Courses | 24.0 | |
Students who selected a Specialization will select 24 credits in the following subject codes: Accounting (ACCT), Statistics (STAT), Economics (ECON), Finance (FIN), General Business (BUSN), International Business (INTB), Legal Studies (BLAW), Management (MGMT), Management Information Systems (MIS), Marketing (MKTG), Operations management (OPM), Operations Research (OPR), Organizational Behavior (ORGB), Production Operations Management (POM), Sport Management (SMT) or Taxation (TAX), with course number range between 600-799, and a maximum of fifteen (15) credits can be from outside the area of Finance (FIN) | ||
| Total Credits | 45.0 | |
Sample Plan of Study
Sample Full-Time
| First Year | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| BUSN 501 or ACCT 510 | 3.0 | FIN 648 | 3.0 | FIN 622 | 3.0 | VACATION | |
| FIN 601 | 3.0 | FIN 649 | 3.0 | FIN 626 | 3.0 | ||
| Elective Course | 3.0 | Elective Course | 3.0 | Elective Course | 3.0 | ||
| 9 | 9 | 9 | 0 | ||||
| Second Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | ||||
| FIN 602 | 3.0 | FIN 650 | 3.0 | ||||
| FIN 624 | 3.0 | FIN 794 | 3.0 | ||||
| Elective Course | 3.0 | Elective Course | 3.0 | ||||
| 9 | 9 | ||||||
| Total Credits 45 | |||||||
Sample Part-Time
| First Year | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| BUSN 501 or ACCT 510 | 3.0 | FIN 648 | 3.0 | FIN 622 | 3.0 | VACATION | |
| FIN 601 | 3.0 | FIN 649 | 3.0 | FIN 626 | 3.0 | ||
| 6 | 6 | 6 | 0 | ||||
| Second Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| FIN 602 | 3.0 | FIN 650 | 3.0 | Electives | 6.0 | VACATION | |
| FIN 624 | 3.0 | FIN 794 | 3.0 | ||||
| 6 | 6 | 6 | 0 | ||||
| Third Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | ||||
| Electives | 6.0 | Elective | 3.0 | ||||
| 6 | 3 | ||||||
| Total Credits 45 | |||||||
Note: Third Year Winter (Part-Time Plan of Study) is less than the 4.5-credit minimum required (considered half-time status) of graduate programs to be considered financial aid eligible. As a result, aid will not be disbursed to students this term.
Finance Faculty
David A. Becher, PhD (Pennsylvania State University) Department of Finance. Professor. Mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, financial institutions.
Jie Cai, PhD (University of Iowa) Department of Finance. Associate Professor. Investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and corporate governance.
Naveen Daniel, PhD (Arizona State University). Associate Professor. Corporate governance, mutual funds, hedge funds.
Daniel Dorn, PhD (Columbia University) Department of Finance. Associate Professor. Capital markets and investments; behavioral finance.
Eliezer M. Fich, PhD (New York University) Department of Finance. Professor. Empirical topics in corporate finance.
Joseph Kalmenovitz, PhD (New York University). Assistant Professor. Financial regulation; corporate finance; law and economics; labor.
Michelle Lowry, PhD (University of Rochester) TD Bank Endowed Professor. Professor. Empirical corporate finance, including initial public offerings, mergers, and corporate governance
Edward Nelling, PhD, CFA (University of Pennsylvania-Wharton) Department Head. Professor. Investments; corporate finance; real estate finance.
Gregory Nini, PhD (The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania). Assistant Professor. Creditor control rights, corporate governance, and firm value; insurance economics.
Patricia Robak, PhD (Lehigh University) Department of Finance. Clinical Professor. Investments, money and banking, international finance.
Diana Sandberg, MS (Drexel University). Associate Clinical Professor. Portfolio management, derivatives, investment management.
Bradford Sodowick, MBA, MD (University of Pennsylvania). Assistant Clinical Professor. Corporate finance, healthcare finance.
Samuel H. Szewczyk, PhD (Pennsylvania State University). Associate Professor. Corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, financial engineering, investment banking, financial institutions.
Martin Thomas, PhD, CFA (Pennsylvania State University). Associate Clinical Professor. Data science; mutual fund performance; valuation methods.
George Tsetsekos, PhD (The University of Tennessee) Dean Emeritus, LeBow College of Business; Francis Professor of Finance. Professor. Valuation and corporate restructuring, treasury and risk/hedging operations, investment banking, securitization, emerging capital markets, multinational finance, bank asset-liability management.
Emeritus Faculty
Thomas Chi-Nan Chiang, PhD (The Pennsylvania State University) Marshall M. Austin Professor of Finance. Professor. International finance; time series analysis of financial data; econometric modeling & forecasting; financial markets; international risk management; monetary theory; macroeconomics; emerging markets; and global country funds.
Michael Gombola, PhD (University of South Carolina) Department Chair, Finance. Professor. Stock offerings and repurchases, mergers, acquisitions, and restructuring; working capital management, time series analysis; options and derivatives, financial statement analysis.
Ralph Walkling, PhD (University of Maryland) Stratakis Professor of Corporate Governance, Department of Finance. Professor Emeritus. Corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions.
