Master of Science in Finance

The Master of Science in Finance is designed for students with or without educational background in finance (all undergraduate majors welcome).

Most finance graduate students pursue the general financial management degree plan. This provides a broad look at the discipline while retaining maximum career flexibility. Students seeking a focused program may concentrate in one of these three areas:

  • Investment Management: For students interested in pursuing a career in security analysis and portfolio management and completing the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) examinations.
  • Financial Analysis: For students interested in corporate finance, investment banking, venture capital, private equity or corporate restructuring and turnarounds.
  • Financial Engineering and Risk Management: For students with the quantitative ability to pursue a career applying quantitative methods to investment and risk management problems, this concentration provides an excellent preparation for the Financial Risk Manager (FRM) examinations.

Although these concentrations are not listed on the diploma or transcripts, the specified course sequences are designed to give the best possible preparation for the respective career paths and professional certifications. Students are advised, but not required, to complete all the coursework in a particular concentration in order to prepare for associated certification.

Welcome! Finance is a dynamic field full of exciting opportunities. UT Dallas offers many choices for the Masters of Science in Finance (MSF) degree. You can tailor your program to specific careers in investment management, financial analysis, financial risk management, management of financial institutions, real estate finance or financial information technology. Professional certification is vital in some career paths, and the MS Finance program has coursework to help prepare you for the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) or the Financial Risk Manager (FRM) exams. You also have the option of tailoring the classes to fit your specific career needs.

At UT Dallas, we have a finance lab with Bloomberg terminals and Capital IQ, and you can get trained and certified on using these resources. We also have access to Morningstar and many other databases. In addition to the Financial Leadership Association, we are also active in the CFA Institute Research Challenge and the Student Fund, a UT Dallas Global Fund for graduates. These resources give you the skills to evaluate strategic decisions in rapidly evolving markets. Contact us for more information about the Masters of Science in Finance program at UT Dallas.

Carolyn Reichert, PhD
Director, MS Finance Programs


Email
(972) 883-5854
Office – JSOM 3.423

Program Prerequisites

Note: To apply for this degree program, an undergrad business degrees is not required (all undergraduate majors welcome).

Calculus, basic statistics and competence in personal computing are required as prerequisites. Candidates who have not taken equivalent courses will need to take MATH 5304 to meet the calculus requirement; OPRE 6301 to complete the basic statistics requirement, and MIS 3300 to complete the personal computing requirement. (Degree credit is not earned for program prerequisites. All grades earned in graduate courses impact a student’s cumulative GPA.)

Degree Plan

Basic Core Courses (18 credit hours)

All students enrolling in the MS in Finance program must complete the following basic business core courses. Students may apply for a waiver of a core course if they have exceptional academic preparation, but a higher level course must be substituted.

  • ACCT 6305 Accounting for Managers, or ACCT 6201 Financial Accounting and ACCT 6202 Managerial Accounting
  • MECO 6303 Business Economics
  • FIN 6301 Financial Management
  • FIN 6306 Quantitative Methods in Finance
  • FIN 6310 Investment Management
  • FIN 6350 Advanced Financial Management

Financial Management option (18 hours selected from)

  • ACCT 6330 Intermediate Financial Accounting I
  • ACCT 6332 Intermediate Financial Accounting II
  • ACCT 6344 Financial Statement Analysis
  • FIN 6308 Regulation of Business and Financial Markets
  • FIN 6311 Valuation Models and Practices
  • FIN 6314 Fixed Income Securities and their Derivatives
  • FIN 6315 Entrepreneurial Finance
  • FIN 6316 Private Equity Finance
  • FIN 6320 Financial Markets and Institutions
  • FIN 6322 Real Estate Finance and Capital Markets
  • REAL 6320 Real Estate Market Analysis and Investment
  • FIN 6325 Macroeconomics and Financial Markets
  • FIN 6330 Behavioral Finance
  • FIN 6340 Management of Financial Institutions
  • FIN 6352 Corporate Financial Modeling
  • FIN 6355 Corporate Finance and Policy
  • FIN 6356 Mergers and Acquisitions
  • FIN 6357 Corporate Restructuring and Turnarounds
  • FIN 6360 Options and Futures Markets
  • FIN 6364 Advanced Investment Management
  • FIN 6366 International Financial Management
  • FIN 6370 Theory of Finance
  • FIN 6380 Global Fund Management
  • FIN 6381 Introductory Mathematical Finance
  • FIN 6382 Numerical Methods in Finance
  • FIN 6383 Financial Risk Management
  • FIN 6V98 Finance Internship
  • ECON 6305 Mathematical Economics
  • ENTP 6390 Business Models Evaluation
  • MECO 6312 Applied Econometrics and Times Series Analysis or ECON 6306 Applied Econometrics
  • MECO 6315 Statistical Inference
  • MIS 6324 Business Intelligence Software and Techniques
  • MIS 6326 Data Management
  • MIS 6344 Web Analytics
  • OPRE 7310 Probability and Stochastic Processes or ECON 6311 Statistics for Economists

Financial Information Management (18 hours selected from):

  • FIN 6360 Options and Futures Markets
  • FIN 6364 Advanced Investment Management
  • FIN 6368 Financial Information and Trading
  • FIN 6382 Numerical Methods in Finance
  • MECO 6312 Applied Econometrics and Times Series Analysis or ECON 6306 Applied Econometrics
  • MIS 6324 Business Intelligence Software and Techniques
  • MIS 6326 Data Management
  • MIS 6344 Web Analytics
  • FIN 6V98 Finance Internship

Investment Management Concentration (CFA) (18 hours selected from):

  • ACCT 6344 Financial Statement Analysis
  • FIN 6311 Valuation Models and Practices
  • FIN 6314 Fixed Income Securities and Their Derivatives
  • FIN 6320 Financial Markets and Institutions
  • FIN 6325 Macroeconomics and the Financial System
  • FIN 6330 Behavioral Finance
  • FIN 6360 Options and Futures Markets
  • FIN 6364 Advanced Investment Management
  • FIN 6378 Emerging Market Investment Analysis
  • FIN 6380 Global Fund Management
  • FIN 6V98 Finance Internship

Financial Analysis Concentration (18 hours):

  • ACCT 6330 Intermediate Financial Accounting I
  • ACCT 6332 Intermediate Financial Accounting II
  • FIN 6311 Valuation Models and Practices
  • FIN 6315 Entrepreneurship Finance
  • FIN 6316 Private Equity Finance
  • FIN 6350 Advanced Financial Management
  • FIN 6352 Financial Modeling
  • FIN 6355 Corporate Finance and Policy
  • FIN 6356 Mergers and Acquisitions
  • FIN 6357 Corporate Restructuring and Turnarounds
  • ENTP 6390 Business Model Evaluation
  • FIN 6366 International Financial Management
  • FIN 6V98 Finance Internship

Financial Risk Management Concentration (18 hours selected from):

  • FIN 6314 Fixed Income Securities and Their Derivatives
  • FIN 6360 Options and Futures Markets
  • OPRE 7310 Probability and Stochastic Processes or ECON 6311 Statistics for Economists
  • MECO 6312 Applied Econometrics and Times Series Analysis or ECON 6306 Applied Econometrics
  • FIN 6370 Theory of Finance and its applications
  • FIN 6381 Introductory Mathematical Finance or ECON 6305 Mathematical Economics
  • FIN 6382 Numerical Methods in Finance
  • FIN 6383 Financial Risk Management
  • MECO 6315 Statistical Inference
  • FIN 6V98 Finance Internship

Management of Financial Institutions Concentration (18 hours selected from):

  • FIN 6308 Regulation of Business and Financial Markets
  • FIN 6311 Valuation Models and Practices
  • FIN 6314 Fixed Income Securities and Their Derivatives
  • FIN 6320 Financial Markets and Institutions
  • FIN 6325 Macroeconomics and Financial Markets
  • FIN 6340 Management of Financial Institutions
  • FIN 6360 Options and Futures Markets
  • FIN 6383 Financial Risk Management
  • FIN 6V98 Finance Internship

Real Estate Concentration (18 hours selected from):

  • FIN 6314 Fixed Income Securities
  • FIN 6320 Financial Markets and Institutions or FIN 6325 Macroeconomics and Financial Markets
  • FIN 6321 Introduction to Real Estate
  • FIN 6322 Real Estate Finance and Investment
  • FIN 6323 Real Estate Market Analysis and Investment
  • FIN 6328 Real Estate Valuation
  • FIN 6326 Real Estate Law and Contracts
  • FIN 6V98 Finance Internship

For more information about Degree Plan, please visit UT Dallas Catalog.

For more information about course description, please visit UT Dallas Course Catalog.