Master of Science in Finance

The Master of Science in Finance is designed for students with or without educational background in finance.

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.

Program Prerequisites

Calculus and basic statistics are required for all finance graduate students. A deficiency in calculus may be remedied by taking MATH 5304 (Applied Math for Non Majors I), or MATH 1325 (with a B or better). Deficiencies must be remedied within the first 12 hours of graduate work. Degree credit is not earned for program prerequisites. All grades earned in graduate courses impact a students cumulative GPA. A deficiency in basic statistics may be remedied by taking OPRE 6301 to complete the basic statistics requirement.

Degree Plan
Basic Core Courses (12 credit hours)

 

 

 

All students enrolling in the M.S. in Finance program must complete the following basic business core courses which are prerequisites for subsequent 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. Please see the catalog for further prerequisite information.

 

  • 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
Financial Management option (24 hours)

 

 

Most students pursue the Financial Management Option which requires completing eight additional courses. At least one course must come from Category A and at least five courses must come from Category B.

Category A: At least one course

 

  • ACCT 6330 Intermediate Financial Accounting I
  • ACCT 6332 Intermediate Financial Accounting II
  • ACCT 6341 Planning, Control, and Performance Evaluation
  • ACCT 6342 Strategic Cost Management
  • ACCT 6344 Financial Statement Analysis
  • ACCT 6345 Business Valuation
  • ACCT 6346 Financial Dimensions of Mergers and Acquisitions
  • ACCT 6351 Individual Taxation
  • ACCT 6352 Corporate Taxation
  • ACCT 6380 Internal Audit

Category B: At least five courses

  • FIN 6308 Regulation of Business and Financial Markets
  • FIN 6310 Investment Management
  • 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 6321 Introduction to Real Estate
  • FIN 6322 Real Estate Finance and Capital Markets
  • FIN 6323 Real Estate Investment and Analysis
  • FIN 6330 Behavioral Finance
  • FIN 6340 Management of Financial Institutions
  • 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
  • FIN 6360 Options and Futures Markets
  • FIN 6364 Advanced Investment Management
  • FIN 6366 International Financial Management
  • FIN 6370 Theory of Finance
  • FIN 6380 Practicum in Finance
  • FIN 6381 Introductory Mathematical Finance
  • FIN 6383 Financial Asset Pricing and Engineering
  • MECO 6312 Applied Econometrics and Times Series Analysis
  • ECON 6306 Applied Econometrics
  • ECON 6311 Statistics for Economists
  • OPRE 7310 Probability and Stochastic Processes
 Investment Management Concentration (24 hours)

 

 

 

  • ACCT 6344 Financial Statement Analysis
  • FIN 6310 Investment Management
  • FIN 6311 Valuation Models and Practices
  • FIN 6314 Fixed Income Securities and Derivatives
  • FIN 6320 Financial Markets and Institutions, or FIN 6334 Advanced Investment Management
  • FIN 6350 Advanced Financial Management
  • FIN 6360 Options and Futures Markets
  • FIN 6364 Advanced Investment Management, or FIN 6380 Practicum in Finance

Financial Analysis Concentration (24 hours):

  • ACCT 6330 Intermediate Financial Accounting I
  • ACCT 6332 Intermediate Financial Accounting II
  • FIN 6311 Valuation Models and Practices
  • FIN 6350 Advanced Financial Management
  • FIN 6355 Corporate Financial Policy

And three of the following four courses:

  • FIN 6316 Private Equity Finance
  • FIN 6352 Financial Modeling
  • FIN 6356 Mergers and Acquisitions
  • FIN 6357 Corporate Restructuring and Turnarounds

Financial Engineering and Risk Management Concentration (24 hours):

  • FIN 6310 Investment Management
  • FIN 6314 Fixed Income Securities and Ttheir Derivatives
  • FIN 6360 Options and Futures Markets
  • FIN 6370 Theory of Finance, or FIN 6364 Advanced Investment Management
  • FIN 6381 Introductory Mathematical Finance
  • FIN 6383 Financial Asset Pricing and Engineering
  • ECON 6311 Statistics for Economists, or OPRE 7310 Probability and Stochastic Processes
  • MECO 6312 Applied Econometrics and Times Series Analysis, or ECO 6306 Applied Econometrics

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

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