Ph.D. program
Program Overview
The Finance Ph.D. program is a specialization within the Ph.D. program in Business Administration. The Finance program prepares students for careers in teaching and research. A year of college-level calculus is a prerequisite for the program. In addition, a masters' degree in business, economics or a related area (or an equivalent research and teaching background) is required. More detailed information about the program can be found in the Graduate Bulletin.
Program Requirements
The program involves course work, a statistics preliminary exam, a comprehensive exam in finance, and a dissertation. In addition, the student must meet teaching and residence requirements.
The course work consists of 12 doctoral-level courses, which include:
- 2 courses in Economics (ECON 8005 and ECON 8119)
- 3 courses in statistics (STAT 8001, STAT 8002 and STAT 8108)
- 4 courses in finance (FIN 9001 through FIN 9004)
- 3 elective courses with the approval of the Finance Ph.D. advisor
First-year students usually take basic courses in economics and statistics. Depending on the student's previous background, ECON 8116 (Mathematical Economics) or ECON 8003 (Math for Economist I) may also be useful. ECON 8116 can be submitted as an elective, but ECON 8003 is a prerequisite course and hence would not count toward the 12-course requirement.