Master of Science in Finance

Overview

The Department of Finance in the Muma College of Business at the University of South Florida offers a Master of Science in Finance degree. The MSF is a specialized degree with a curriculum that emphasizes finance and economics. The MSF program offers advanced education for individuals who are interested in pursuing careers in corporate finance, investments, financial services, and related areas.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

To be admitted to the MSF program, an applicant must:

• Score a minimum of 550 on the GMAT (or earn an equivalent GRE score)
• Have an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0 from an accredited university.
• International students must also have a TOEFL score of 79 or higher on the iBT.
• International applicants with a three-year bachelor's degree can be considered for admission to the MSF provided the applicant has at least two years of full-time work experience and a GMAT score of 650 or GRE score of 321. If the three-year bachelor's degree is from a non- Bologna Accord institution, a transcript evaluation from a NACES member is required to confirm equivalency.

The primary requisites for success in the MSF program are a strong motivation, good quantitative skills, and basic intellectual ability. An undergraduate major in finance is not required, but a sound background in finance, mathematics, and statistics normally will permit completion of the MSF program in one year.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

The Department of Finance has a limited number of graduate assistantships available. The assistantships include partial tuition waivers.

Coursework

FOUNDATION COURSES

Foundation courses can be waived for students who have completed equivalent courses in either an undergraduate program or a graduate program that is AACSB accredited. A course will be waived only if it has been completed with a grade of A or B within five years of entering the MSF program. If students are not waived from these courses, the foundation courses should be completed at the beginning of the MSF prior to the core curriculum.

• ACG 6026 Accounting Concepts (3)
• ECO 6005 Economic Concepts (3)
• FIN 6406 Financial Management (2)
• QMB 6305 Managerial Decision Analysis (2)

MSF CURRICULUM (CREDIT HOURS ARE NOTED IN PARENTHESES)

Core Finance (15 credits)

• FIN 6416 Advanced Financial Management (3)
• FIN 6465 Financial Statement Analysis (3)
• FIN 6515 Investments (3)
• FIN 6455 Financial Modeling & Analytics (3)
• FIN 6425 Financial Policy (3)—must be taken at the end of the program after the other core courses are completed

Core finance courses may be waived for students who graduated with finance majors from AACSB accredited programs within five years of entering the MSF program. Only courses with the same content as the core finance courses can be used to satisfy the MSF course requirements, and students must have earned grades of A or B to have such courses waived. Advanced finance elective courses with the same total credit hours must be substituted for waived courses.

Advanced Finance Electives (15 credits)

Students can select any of the graduate courses offered by the Finance Department or approved graduate courses offered in the Economics Department. Students make satisfy up to 6 credit hours from other business departments with prior approval. Examples of finance and economics courses are listed below.

• FIN 6246 Advanced Money and Capital Markets (3)
• FIN 6605 International Finance (3)
• FIN 6537 Financial Options and Futures (3)
• REE 6045 Real Estate Decisions (3)
• ECO 6115 Microeconomics (3)
• ECO Mathematical Economics (3)
• Total program (30 hours)

To be granted an MSF degree, a student must have completed all of the required courses with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Overview

The University of South Florida is a large, public 4-year university offering undergraduate, graduate, specialist and doctoral level degrees. The USF System includes three, separately accredited institutions: USF; USF St. Petersburg; and USF Sarasota-Manatee. Serving more than 50,000 students, the USF System has an annual budget of $1.7 billion and is ranked 45th in the nation for research expenditures among all universities, public or private.

USF is comprised of 14 colleges offering more than 180 undergraduate majors and concentrations—with some of the most populated colleges being USF Health, Arts & Sciences, Business, and Engineering. We also have numerous degree programs at the graduate, specialist and doctoral levels, including the doctor of medicine. USF prides itself on being a high-impact global research university dedicated to student success.

USF St. Petersburg offers an intimate, waterfront campus environment with smaller classes and an emphasis on community engagement. It offers more than 40 graduate and undergraduate programs in the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business and Education.

USF Sarasota-Manatee similarly offers a smaller, personalized learning setting while its scenic campus is an important piece of Sarasota’s Cultural Corridor. It offers over 40 academic programs with four main dynamic colleges in Business, Hospitality & Tourism Leadership, Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, and Science & Mathematics.

USF at a Glance

• Founded: 1956
• Undergraduates: 37,333
• Graduate Students: 10,677
• Total number of students who received financial aid in 2016-17: 38,638
• Average financial aid awarded: $10,774
• Accreditation: Regionally Accredited, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
• Student-faculty ratio: 21:1
• Average class size: 33 students
• Faculty & Staff: 16,028
• Diversity: 41% of students are African American, Black, Asian American, Hispanic, Native American or multiracial.
• Countries Represented: 128 and 10% of the total student population