The M.S. in Finance program is designed to provide graduate-level finance training to individuals with either career experience in finance or an undergraduate degree in finance / related field.
Our Master’s in Finance curriculum is flexible and allows students to choose courses that will meet their specific professional needs. Courses are offered in all of the major areas of finance, including financial management, financial modeling, investments, financial data analytics, machine learning in artificial intelligence, and international finance.
The program is available only under Plan B (without thesis), and the program of study is determined in consultation with, and with the approval of, the graduate program director at the time of enrollment. The program commences at the beginning of August and ends at the completion of the summer semester.
Degree Requirements
A total of 30 credits are required for the degree. A student’s program of study must be approved by the director of the program. All students must meet the requirements specified below:
- Maintain a grade-point average of 3.25.
- Complete 18 credits in courses offered by the Department of Finance at the 800 level or higher. These 18 credits must include either FI 801 or FI 980 unless the student passes a departmental waiver exam.
- Complete 12 credits in elective courses approved by the program director. These credits can be earned in finance courses or in courses in related disciplines including economics, statistics, or mathematics. At least 9 of these 12 credits must be earned in courses at the 800 level or higher.
Students who have not completed equivalents of MTH 124: Survey of Calculus I and STT 315: Introductory Probability and Statistics for Business must take appropriate remedial math coursework before the program begins.
Flexibility in the choice of courses is the key characteristic of the M.S. in Finance program. Subject to certain broad guidelines, each student’s program of study is developed to further the student’s chosen professional objectives and to build on the student’s prior academic background.
The M.S. in Finance curriculum covers a variety of topics important to the finance profession, including financial modeling, investments, risk management, real world financial data analytics, deep learning and neural networks in finance, and international finance. An example of a set of courses completing the M.S. degree with the full 30 credits is as follows:
Fall Semester
- FI 801: Managerial Finance (3 credits)
- FI 845/846: Financial Modeling and Simulation (3 credits)
- FI 853/854: Debt, Money Instruments and Markets (3 credits)
- FI 860/861: Multinational Corporate Finance (3 credits)
Spring Semester
- FI 850/851: Introduction to Investments (3 credits)
- FI 852/855: Financial Derivatives (3 credits)
- FI 862/865: Corporate Strategy Valuation (3 credits)
- FI872/873: Financial Data Analytics (3 credits)
Summer Semester
- FI 414: Advanced Business Finance (3 credits)
- FI 890: International Business Law (3 credits)
Examples of Available Courses
- FI891: Deep Learning and Neural Networks in Finance (3 credits)
- FI891: Quantitative Risk Management (3 credits)
- FI821: Cross Section Econometrics (3 credits)
- FI822: Time Series Econometrics (3 credits)
- FI857: Security Analysis and Portfolio Management (3 credits)
Finance Graduate Course Descriptions
- FI 801 Managerial Finance
Investment decisions by firms. Value creation, risk and return, pricing models, and financial markets. Financing alternatives, market efficiency, capital budgeting, and leverage and risk relationships. Optimizing firm value. Agency problems and effects on investment and financing decisions.
- FI 845 Financial Modeling
Applications of financial theory through computer modeling. Financial forecasting, cash flow modeling, and valuation.
- FI 851 Introduction to Investments II
Security risk and return concepts. Security analysis and concepts of market efficiency. Emphasis on equity investments. Bonds, options, futures and international securities.
- FI 852 Financial Derivatives I
Theories concerning domestic and international financial markets and instruments. Effects of risk and maturity on prices. Arrangement of business and portfolio risk and returns with options and futures.
- FI 857 Security Analysis and Portfolio Management
Fundamental analysis of individual stocks. Discounted cash flow valuation, relative valuation and special situations. Portfolio implications.
- FI 860 Multinational Corporate Finance
Capital budgeting, capital structure decisions, cash management, foreign currency markets and exchange rate risk management. Ethical and tax considerations.
- FI 862 Corporate Strategy Valuation
Financial planning and control using financial theory and management techniques. Applications in international settings. Use of business cases.
- FI 870 Venture Capital and Private Equity
Financing of entrepreneurial startups, venture capital and private equity. Valuations of entrepreneurial startups, structuring venture capital, and private equity deals and partnerships.
- FI 872 Financial Data Analytics
Introduction to the analysis of real-world financial data in a variety of settings. Applying textual analysis to large documents, identifying “sentiment” in Google search data, and back-testing trading strategies. Developing the programming skills necessary to both collect and prepare data for analysis. Identifying, downloading, cleaning, and shaping data.
- FI 891A Topics In Finance
A survey of methods from economics and statistics with applications to financial problems. Topics include the economics of the firm, strategic behavior, regression analysis, decision analysis, simulation, forecasting and project management.
- FI 891B Topics In Finance
Field study of the financial function of the modern firm. EIC analyses and applied cases integrating capital budgeting, valuation, capital structure, mergers, international issues, working capital management and ethical considerations.
- GBL 891 Business Law
The impact of international law on business practices. Government regulation of international business. Legal issues in international financial decisions.
Honor Code
Statement of Philosophy
The students in the Master of Science in Finance degree program in the Eli Broad Graduate School of Management regard the principles of truth and honesty as fundamental to the finance profession. The Honor Pledge is an agreement that a student makes with his or her fellow students to adhere to these principles. The Honor Pledge allows each student to fully develop his or her individual potential and protects the integrity of scholarship and grades at Michigan State University.
All members of the Department of Finance – students, faculty, and staff – are responsible for reporting Honor Pledge violations to the instructor of the course, or to the department chair for a non-course-related violation. The rights of students accused of such violations are specified in Article 5 of the Graduate Rights and Responsibilities, Spartan Life: Student Handbook and Resource Guide. Article 5 also specifies the sanctions against students who are found guilty of Honor Pledge violations.
Honor Pledge
I pledge that I will not lie, cheat, steal or plagiarize in my academic endeavors, and that I will conduct myself truthfully and honestly to uphold the integrity of Michigan State University.
