Master of Science in Finance

The šŸŒ icon appears in the title of traditional courses that are also available as a set of module courses.Ā Ā 

Description and Outcomes

The Master of Science in Finance program focuses on helping you gain advanced technical knowledge and skills in a range of financial areas. Courses help increase your understanding of the factors that influence high-level decision making and provide you with opportunities to develop and implement your critical thinking skills to solve complex financial problems.

The program is designed to prepare you to make quality decisions based on the analysis of financial information. The curriculum encourages you to be a lifelong learner and addresses the evolving professional skills of master's degree students.

The general program is designed to help you develop specific skills in the areas of financial planning, corporate finance, banking, financial markets, and investment management. Completion of this program may be especially beneficial if you who wish to pursue a variety of opportunities in the financial service sector.

Concentrations

You are required to select a concentration in financial analysis, financial planning, or treasury management.

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Certification Information

The Master of Science in Finance with a concentration in financial planning is a CFP Board-Registered Program in financial planning education. After successfully completing the Master of Science in Finance program you must register for and complete FP107: Financial Plan Development, provided by Kaplan Professional, if you wish to meet all education requirements necessary to sit for the CFPĀ® Certification Examination.

During FP107, you will receive instruction on and review sample financial plans based on various case facts. You will then be required to complete a written financial plan, which you will present orally via a video recording.

For detailed information related to obtaining CFPĀ® certification, you may access the CFP Board website located at: http://www.cfp.net/.

Program Length

The Master of Science in Finance program consists of a minimum of 56 quarter credit hours. Upon successful completion of the program, you will be awarded a master of science degree.

Program Outcomes

  1. Decision Analysis: Use financial and other information to make and justify business decisions.
  2. Risk Management and Investment Analysis: Identify financial risk and create a plan to minimize exposure.
  3. Leadership: Apply financial theory to facilitate overall guidance of an organization and improve day-to-day processes including the interpretation of financial data.
  4. Ethical Practices: Comply with laws, regulations, and financial principles while developing and living by a personal code of ethics.
  5. Communication: Compose and report clear and accurate financial information to stakeholders.

Professional Competencies

In addition to the discipline-specific outcomes, professional competencies are integrated throughout your academic program. You can review the professional competencies associated with your academic program in the Professional Competencies section of this Catalog.

Program Availability

For program availability, please refer to the U.S. State and Other Approvals section and Program Availability Information.

Policies

Admission Requirements

You must meet the below admissions requirements in addition to Purdue Global's general requirements.

You must submit a current, professional resume that details employment history including responsibilities and dates of employment.

Your prior bachelor's degree must be in the field of business from an accredited institution or include a minimum of 30 semester or 45 quarter credit hours in undergraduate coursework across the Common Professional Components (CPC) to align with Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) accreditation standards.Ā You would also meet these requirements with a master's degree in business (MBA).

ACBSPā€™s CPC include areas such as marketing, management, finance, economics, law, ethics, accounting, globalization, policy, IT, and statistics. If you have completed the required hours and satisfy the other program entry requirements, no additional coursework is needed to enter the masterā€™s degree program. If you do not meet this requirement, you will be required to take a Peregrine entrance exam free of charge to assess your knowledge in the CPC areas. If you do not meet the minimum scoring requirement of 50 percent on each topic in the exam, you will be required to take a leveling course, comprised of up to 15 modules, before being enrolled in the program. The required module(s) will be determined by the Peregrine score in each CPC area. You are responsible for the fee for each Peregrine module required.Ā You must pass each Peregrine module that is required with a score of 70 percent or higher.

For example, if you do not meet the undergraduate coursework requirements, and do not receive a passing score on the exam in the accounting and business finance areas, you would be required to take both module 1 and module 3 of the leveling course:

Module 1 Accounting
Module 2 Business Ethics
Module 3 Business Finance
Module 4 Business Integration and Strategic Management
Module 5 Business Leadership
Module 6 Global Dimensions of Business
Module 7 Information Management Systems
Module 8 Legal Environment of Business
Module 9 Marketing
Module 10 Quantitative Research Techniques and Statistics
Module 11 Management/Human Resource Management
Module 12 Management/Operations/Production Management
Module 13 Management/Organizational Behavior
Module 14 Economics/Macroeconomics
Module 15 Economics/Microeconomics

If you are granted admission to the program and you do not have an undergraduate degree in finance, you may be required to complete additional foundational coursework, which may include MT217 šŸŒ Finance, MT480 šŸŒ Corporate Finance, and MT482 šŸŒ Financial Statement Analysis, pending review of the situation by the Dean. Candidates to the program must pass their prerequisite courses with a ā€œBā€ or better to be admitted to the program.

If you are an international applicant, you must submit, prior to enrollment, an official college transcript evaluated for equivalency to a United States college diploma by an authorized school official, appropriate outside agency, or approved foreign credential evaluator. If you possess a bachelor's degree unrelated to business, management, accounting, or finance, you must submit an additional course-by-course equivalency evaluation to determine whether you have already completed coursework equivalent to MT217 šŸŒ Finance, MT480 šŸŒ Corporate Finance, and MT482 šŸŒ Financial Statement Analysis. You are responsible for any costs incurred as a result of this service.

Progression Requirements

As a newly enrolled student, you may request to test out of GB512 šŸŒ Business CommunicationsĀ by passing an Assessment of Skills and Knowledge with a predetermined score. To register for an ASK, you must contact your Student Advisor at least 1 week prior to your scheduled start date.Ā 

Certification, State Board, and National Board Exams

Certain state certification and licensure boards have specific educational requirements for programs to lead to a license or certification that is a precondition for employment in a recognized occupation.Ā Prospective and current students must review Purdue Globalā€™s State Licensure and Certifications site to view program and state-specific licensure information.

Unless otherwise specified, Purdue Global's programs are not designed to meet any specific stateā€™s licensure or certification requirements. Licensure-track programs may limit enrollment to students in certain states; please see Purdue Globalā€™s Program Availability InformationĀ to determine enrollment eligibility.

You are responsible for understanding the requirements of optional certification exams. Such requirements may change during the course of your program. You are not automatically certified in any way upon program completion. Although certain programs are designed to prepare you to take various optional certification exams, Purdue Global cannot guarantee you will be eligible to take these exams or become certified. Your eligibility may depend on your work experience, completion of education and/or degree requirements, not having a criminal record, and meeting other certification requirements.

Upon completion of the financial analysis concentration, you may be eligible to take the Certified Financial Analyst (CFA) certification exam.

If you complete the financial planning concentration and the FP107 course, you may be eligible to take the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERā„¢ (CFPĀ®) Certification Examination. Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., owns the CFPĀ®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERā„¢, and federally registered CFP (with flame design) in the U.S., which are awarded to individuals who successfully complete initial and ongoing certification requirements. Purdue Global does not certify individuals to use the CFPĀ®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERā„¢, or federally registered CFP (with flame design) marks. CFPĀ® certification is granted solely by Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., to individuals who, in addition to completing an educational requirement, have met its ethics, experience, and examination requirements.