Academic Catalog

Finance (M.S.)

Admission Requirements

Admissions into the Master of Science in Finance program is contingent upon admission to the Wayne State University Graduate School.  In addition, applicants must meet the following requirements:

  1. Baccalaureate degree in business administration, a discipline area of business administration such as accounting or finance, or in a quantitative field such as mathematics, economics, physics, engineering, statistics or the sciences from a regionally accredited institution
  2. Minimum GMAT score of 550; or minimum GRE score of 155 on Quantitative Reasoning and 154 on Verbal Reasoning
  3. Overall undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 2.75, with 3.0 major grade point average (GPA) on a 4.0 scale
  4. Three letters of recommendation from professors or employers

On-campus or telephone interviews may be required.

A completed application for Graduate Admissions, the application fee, and an official transcript from each college or university attended are required before a student can be considered for admissions to graduate status.

Program Requirements

The M.S. Finance (M.S.F.) program requires a total of 30 credit hours.  Up to six transfer credits from previous equivalent graduate coursework can be applied to the degree if those credits have not been counted toward another degree, are from an AACSB accredited institution, are equivalent substitutes, have a B grade or better and are not older than 6 years.

Students can pursue the M.S.F. full time or part time.  Students must complete the program within six years.

A minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or greater is required for graduation.  A maximum of two courses in which a C grade has been received may be used to meet graduation requirements, provided this is offset by sufficient A grades to maintain the required 3.0 GPA.

The M.S.F. curriculum will provide the student with a solid foundation for the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) level one exam and will prepare them for a variety of financial roles.  There are three phases of course work required:

  • Foundation
  • Core
  • Electives

Foundation Requirements

Before progressing to the core courses of the program, students should possess a solid foundation in finance and accounting as comprised by the following set of courses:

BA 6000Introduction to Accounting and Financial Reporting3
BA 6005Basics of Financial Management3

The graduate level foundation courses (BA - Business Administration) cited above are open only to students who have been formally admitted into a graduate program at Wayne State University.  Analogous courses offered at the undergraduate level (as determined by the admissions evaluation process) may be taken to satisfy foundation requirements PRIOR to graduate admissions.  However, once a student has been formally admitted to the M.S.F. program, no graduate credit will be allowed for subsequent registration in undergraduate courses.

If the applicant's business administration, finance or accounting degree is from a college or university located outside of the United States, some or all of the foundation requirements may not be waived because U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (US GAAP) may not have been studied.

Core 

Core courses form the backbone of the M.S.F. program, providing general analytical methods and technical tools that can be applied to a variety of sub-specialties in finance. 

Financial Accounting for Decision Making
Corporate Financial Management
Applied Financial Analysis
Money and Capital Markets
Advanced Managerial Finance
Investment Policies
One course in Quantitative Methods in Finance (3 cr.)

Electives

Please select three courses (9 credits) from the available elective courses: 

Entrepreneurs' Ecosystem
Entrepreneurial Finance and Venture Capital
Topics in Finance
Futures and Options
International Finance
Internship in Finance
Mergers and Acquisitions
Portfolio Management/Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF)
Directed Study
One course in Fixed Income Securities
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