UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE FORMS
Academic Program Approval
This form is a routing document for
the approval of new and revised academic programs. Proposing department should complete this
form. For more information, call the
Faculty Senate Office at 831-2921.
Submitted by: Jay
Coughenour, Chair, Finance Department phone number: x 1766
Department: Finance email address:
coughenj@lerner.udel.edu
Action: Add Master of Science in Finance
Effective term: 08F
Current degree: BS
in Finance
Proposed change leads to the degree of: MS
Proposed name: Master
of Science in Finance
Revising or Deleting:
Undergraduate major /
Concentration: NA
Undergraduate minor: NA
Graduate Program Policy statement
change: NA
Graduate Program of Study: NA
Graduate minor / concentration: NA
List new courses required for the new
or revised curriculum. How do they support the overall program objectives of
the major/minor/concentrations)?
FINC861 Workshop in Financial
Economics
This course has been
offered as an experimental course (FINC867) for the past 2 years. It was submitted for the Course Challenge
list on November 1, 2007.
Explain, when appropriate, how this
new/revised curriculum supports the 10 goals of undergraduate education: http://www.ugs.udel.edu/gened/
NA
Identify other units affected by the
proposed changes:
Department of Economics
Department of Accounting
Describe the rationale for the proposed
program change(s):
The purpose of the MS in Finance program is to provide
students with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills to be innovative,
well-informed, and experienced finance professionals. The curriculum is based
on the financial theory and empirical methods employed by professionals
practicing corporate finance, financial security valuation, financial modeling,
portfolio management, financial services management, financial risk management,
and corporate governance. In addition, students are expected to leverage
educational opportunities afforded by the Exelon Trading Center and the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance. As a result, students will
obtain training and experience valued by corporations, financial service firms,
consulting firms, and government agencies. Additionally, if desired, students
may tailor their program to enhance progress through a subsequent doctoral
degree program.
Program Requirements:
(Show
the new or revised curriculum as it should appear in the Course Catalog. If this is a revision, be sure to indicate
the changes being made to the current curriculum and include a side-by-side comparison of the credit distribution before
and after the proposed change.)
Finance
http://www.lerner.udel.edu/finance
Faculty Listing:
http://www.lerner.udel.edu/finance/faculty
MS In Finance
Program Overview
The purpose
of the MS in Finance program is to provide students with the theoretical
knowledge and practical skills to be innovative, well-informed, and experienced
finance professionals. The curriculum is based on the financial theory and
empirical methods employed by professionals practicing corporate finance,
financial security valuation, financial modeling, portfolio management,
financial services management, financial risk management, and corporate
governance. In addition, students are expected to leverage educational
opportunities afforded by the Exelon Trading Center and the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance. As a result, students will
obtain training and experience valued by corporations, financial service firms,
consulting firms, and government agencies. Additionally, if desired, students
may tailor their program to enhance progress through a subsequent doctoral
degree program.
The
30-credit degree program may be completed in nine months by a full-time
student, admitted in the fall semester with a strong background in finance.
For further details contact the MS in Finance Program
Director (msf@lerner.udel.edu).
Requirements For Admission
Qualified applicants for admission must:
-
Supply all information stated in
the “Admission Information” chapter of this catalog
-
Hold the equivalent of a 4-year U.S. Bachelor's Degree from an accredited
college or university.
-
Submit
a Graduate Admission Application and official transcripts of all previous
academic work
-
Submit
official results of the Graduate Records Examination (GRE) or the Graduate
Management Admissions Test (GMAT).
-
Submit a resume and application essays on the following topics:
-
What
are your career objectives and how will an MS in Finance help you achieve your
goals?
-
Describe
a particular challenging experience, and how you handled that experience.
-
Describe
any special circumstances related to your academic record that you think the
admissions committee should consider.
-
Submit
three letters of recommendation from faculty and/or employers.
For applicants whose native language
is not English, the University requires
an official paper-based
Test of English as a Foreign Language
(TOEFL) score of at least 550, at least 213 on the computer-based TOEFL, or at
least 79 on the Internet-based TOEFL for an applicant to be considered for admission. This requirement may be waived if
the student has earned a degree from an accredited educational institution in
which English is the primary instructional language.
Applicants need not have majored in any specific
undergraduate field. The following should be considered as preferred minimum
levels for admission:
-
Strong written
and oral communication skills
-
Undergraduate GPA
of 2.75 (on a 4.0 scale), with a 3.0 in
their major
-
A
combined score of 1050 on the verbal and quantitative portions of the GRE or score at or above the 55th
percentile on the GMAT.
Incoming
students are expected to understand the
fundamentals of finance and accounting concepts as presented in FINC850
Financial Management and ACCT800 Financial Reporting and Analysis, have basic computer skills equivalent
to those taught in ACCT 160 Introduction
to Business Information Systems I and have taken the college level equivalents
to MATH 221 Calculus and MATH 230 Finite Mathematics with Applications. The admissions committee will examine each accepted
applicant’s transcripts and work experience to determine if these prerequisites
have been satisfied. Students deficient
in any of the admission requirements or pre-requisites may be admitted on provisional
status and be required to complete non-degree credit coursework. Such determination is made by the MS in Finance
Program Committee.
Admission
to the graduate program is competitive. Those who meet stated requirements are
not guaranteed admission, nor are those who fail to meet all of those
requirements necessarily precluded from admission if they offer other
appropriate strengths. Admission decisions are made by the MS in Finance Program Committee and are based upon a number of
factors, including the applicant’s GMAT or GRE scores, college transcripts,
application essays and letters of recommendation.
Admissions will occur on a rolling basis, so
early application may improve chances for admission and financial assistance if
applicable. While the published application deadline for the fall semester is
May 1st, applications are accepted after that date. Applications can
be submitted before taking the GRE or GMAT. Please indicate on your application
the scheduled date of your GRE or GMAT exam. However, late exam submission will
delay application processing and the admission decision.
Every applicant who has accepted
admission must submit a $200 non-refundable deposit by the deadline stated in
the acceptance letter to secure a place in the program.
Requirements For The Degree
The MS in Finance requires a minimum of 30 credits, divided into core
courses (12 credits), skill courses (6 credits), and elective courses (12 credits,
with a minimum of 6 credits in FINC).
Core Courses (12 credits):
FINC851 Corporate
Financial Analysis…………………... 3
FINC852 Investment
Analysis & Portfolio Management… 3
FINC855 Financial
Institutions & Markets……………….. 3
FINC861 Workshop in Financial Economics……………... 3
Skills Courses (6
credits):
ECON822 Econometric
Theory…………………………… 3
ACCT820 Financial Statement Analysis……….……….… 3
Elective
Courses
(12 credits,
with a minimum of 6 credits in FINC courses):
FINC853 International
Financial Management………….. 3
FINC854 Special
Topics in Finance…………………….. 3
FINC856 Financial
Engineering & Risk Management….. 3
FINC858 Corporate
Governance………………………… 3
FINC859 Seminar
in Finance……………………………. 3
ECON801 Microeconomic
Theory……………………….. 3
ECON802 Macroeconomic
Theory………………………. 3
ECON815 Managerial
Forecasting……………………….. 3
ECON819 Economics
of Information…………………….. 3
ECON823 Seminar
in Econometrics……………………… 3
ECON824 Topics
in Advanced Econometrics……………. 3
ECON825 Time-Series
Econometrics…………………….. 3
ECON852 Monetary
Economics………………………….. 3
ACCT614 Federal
Tax Research & Planning…………….. 3
Students may choose elective courses from the list but are not limited
to courses on the list. The Program
Director will decide on whether a particular variation from the stated degree
requirements is allowed.
Program
Administration
Degree
candidates are required to have a program of study approved by the Program
Director prior to matriculation. The
program of study consists of the list of the courses the student intends to
take to satisfy the degree requirements for the MS in Finance. Any revisions in the program of study must be
approved by the Program Director prior to the student registering for courses
not previously approved in their program of study. Maintenance of steady, reasonable progress
towards the degree is the responsibility of the student.
For full time students (1 year program) admitted in the fall semester a
normal load will be 12-15 credits in the fall semester followed by 3-6 credits
in the winter, and 12-15 credits in the spring semester. For part time students (2 year program) a
normal load will be 6 credits per semester, plus 3 credits during each winter
semester.
Following
UD guidelines, a student in the MS in Finance program is making ‘normal
progress’ if they maintain a 3.0 GPA or higher while taking the recommended
number/sequence of courses. GPA
requirements are monitored by the Office of Graduate Studies according to the
Graduate Studies Academic Probation Policy.