Introduction

In our MS Finance and Risk Management program, you’ll gain insight into the economics and finance behind modern business and add critical quantitative skills to your resume.  The master of science degree provides the necessary depth and specialized expertise to meet the needs of businesses for financial managers, investment analysts, and other finance specialists.

The program emphasizes a familiarity with the institutions in our financial system, an understanding of financial markets and instruments, and the analytical skills and tools necessary to make informed decisions about investment and financing.

The program is suited to students from a wide variety of undergraduate backgrounds and is particularly appropriate to students with strong technical and analytical backgrounds. Admission standards for the MS finance and risk management program are unique to the program. Therefore, admission to other graduate business programs does not guarantee admission into the MS finance and risk management program.

With a hands-on degree, you’ll have the opportunity to dive deep into special topics like behavioral and political finance and international corporate governance. With five specialization options, you can also choose to tailor your degree to focus on commodities, risk management and insurance, economics, financial analysis, or general finance.  The MS in finance and risk management offers flexibility with on-campus and online courses but can be completed fully online. 

You may choose one of the following specializations as a part of your degree. Each specialization requires 12 hours of coursework.

• General Finance
• Commodities
• Economics
• Financial Analysis and Management
• Risk Management and Insurance

Prerequisites

Prerequisites: BUSN 6550 Analyzing and Interpreting Accounting Information or the equivalent of a financial accounting course taken within the last ten years with a "B-" grade or higher. Students are also expected to be knowledgeable in spreadsheet software.

Requirements

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Finance and Risk Management Core
FNCE 6290	Quantitative Methods for Finance	3
BUSN 6620	Applied Economics for Managers	3
BUSN 6640	Financial Management	3
FNCE 6330	Investment Management Analysis	3
FNCE 6382	Futures, Forwards, Swaps (and Other Derivatives)	3
RISK 6909	Corporate Risk Management	3
Specializations
Select one of the following:		12
Commodities
Economics
Finance
Financial Analysis and Investment Management
Risk Management and Insurance
Total Hours		30

Specializations

Commodities

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Select 4 of the following:		12
CMDT 6240	Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) Trends in Energy & Commodities
CMDT 6490	Commodity Trading
CMDT 6582	Commodity Supply Chain Management
CMDT 6682	Commodities Hedging
CMDT 6710	Carbon Markets: Navigating the Future of Business
CMDT 6802	Foundations of Commodities
RISK 6129	Practical Enterprise Risk Management
RISK 6309	Strategic Risk Management
RISK 6509	Global Risk Management
RISK 6809	Principles of Property & Casualty Insurance
RISK 6909	Corporate Risk Management
Total Hours		12

Economics

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Core
BUSN 6640	Financial Management	3
FNCE 6330	Investment Management Analysis	3
FNCE 6382	Futures, Forwards, Swaps (and Other Derivatives)	3
Electives
Select any two FNCE/RISK/CMDT courses numbered 6000 or higher 1		6
Economics Core
ECON 5073	Microeconomic Theory	3
ECON 5083	Macroeconomic Theory	3
ECON 5803	Mathematical Economics	3
ECON 5813	Econometrics I	3
Quantitative Elective
Select one of the following:		3
ECON 5823	Econometrics II
ECON 6801	Advanced Mathematical Economics
MATH 5390	Game Theory
MATH 5792	Probabilistic Modeling
Total Hours		30

¹

excluding FNCE 6290 Quantitative Methods for Finance and FNCE 6300 Macroeconomics and Financial Markets

The Economics Specialization is a stand alone program which requires 30 credit hours

Finance 

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Required Courses
Select at least 3 courses with FNCE/CMDT/RISK prefix, numbered 6000 or higher.		9
Electives
Select one of the following:		3
FNCE/CMDT/RISK course numbered 6000 or higher
ACCT 6140	Fundamentals of Federal Income Tax
ACCT 6340	Financial Statement Analysis
ENTP 6824	Entrepreneurial Financial Management
ECON 5813	Econometrics I
ECON 5823	Econometrics II
MATH 5792	Probabilistic Modeling
MATH 5390	Game Theory
Total Hours		12

Financial Analysis and Investment Management 

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Select three or four courses of the following:		9-12
FNCE 6310	Financial Decisions and Policies
FNCE 6360	Management of Financial Institutions
FNCE 6411	International Corporate Governance
FNCE 6420	Mergers and Acquisitions
FNCE 6450	Short-Term Financial Management
FNCE 6460	Emerging Market Finance
FNCE 6480	Financial Modeling
FNCE 6850	Blockchain, Crypto Investing and Trading Strategy
Total Hours		9-12

If 3 courses are completed from the list above, select 1 course from the list below:

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
ACCT 6140	Fundamentals of Federal Income Tax	3
ACCT 6340	Financial Statement Analysis	3
CMDT 6582	Commodity Supply Chain Management	3
CMDT 6682	Commodities Hedging	3
CMDT 6802	Foundations of Commodities	3
ENTP 6824	Entrepreneurial Financial Management	3
MATH 5390	Game Theory	3
RISK 6129	Practical Enterprise Risk Management	3
RISK 6509	Global Risk Management	3
RISK 6809	Principles of Property & Casualty Insurance	3
RISK 6909	Corporate Risk Management	3
CMDT 6782		3

Risk Management and Insurance (RMI)

The specialization in Risk Management and Insurance is designed for students who are interested in pursuing or advancing a career in areas of risk management or the insurance industry.  50% of this industry is retiring in the next 5 to 10 years, leaving a huge need for new talent. The pervasive reality of risk affects all individuals and organizations.  Specialized knowledge and understanding of risk increase students’ marketability and potential for success across a wide range of industries.

Every Fall and Spring semester, the RMI Program awards about $25,000 in scholarships.  Students may apply for RMI Scholarships when they enroll in a RISK course.

Students with the RMI Specialization can also take advantage of the unique opportunities offered by the RMI Program and our industry partners.

More about careers in risk management can be found here.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
RMI Core
RISK 6129	Practical Enterprise Risk Management	3
RISK 6309	Strategic Risk Management	3
RISK 6809	Principles of Property & Casualty Insurance	3
Select 1 of the following		3
RISK 6209	Cyber Risk Management
RISK 6509	Global Risk Management
RISK 6709	Life and Health Insurance
CMDT 6582	Commodity Supply Chain Management
CMDT 6802	Foundations of Commodities
ECON 5823	Econometrics II
ENTP 6824	Entrepreneurial Financial Management
FNCE 6360	Management of Financial Institutions
FNCE 6420	Mergers and Acquisitions
FNCE 6480	Financial Modeling
Total Hours		12

There may be additional prerequisite courses for the ECON and/or MATH selections. Please check with those departments or the graduate advisors.

Total 30 credit hours