Program Overview
The Finance PhD program provides talented individuals with the opportunity to pursue their research interests in Finance, Insurance and Real Estate. This program is particularly well-suited for those with aspirations of becoming academic researchers and educators. Doctoral students actively participate in all stages of research, including conceptualization, methodology, data analysis, writing and defending the research findings before the peer reviewers at academic journals. Doctoral students are also expected to teach.
We consider both international and domestic applicants for admission every year. During the initial two years of the program, PhD students take graduate-level courses and begin their research work. At the conclusion of the second year, students are required to take a comprehensive exam. Successful completion of this exam grants students an ABD (All But Dissertation) status. Subsequently, during the following years, an ABD student is expected to make progress towards completing their dissertation. The Finance PhD degree is conferred upon successful defense of the dissertation.
The Finance faculty have recent publications in leading scholarly journals, including the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics and Review of Financial Studies. The specific research interests of the Finance group include FinTech, Real Estate, Market Microstructure, Corporate Finance and Derivatives among others. Our graduates have a continuous record of placement at the research universities in the US and abroad.
The program is quantitative in nature. PhD students are expected to join with an extensive quantitative background and sufficient skills to process data for empirical research. Rich computational resources and abundant financial data are readily available to our group of scholars. We offer comprehensive mentorship to PhD students who show talent, discipline and dedication to research.
Curriculum
- Core (12-15 hours):
- FIR 7155 - Global Financial Management
- FIR 7301 - Contemp Rles Thry/Prac
- FIR 7724 - Micro-Structure Theory (8724) and/or FIR 7725 - Equity Market Trading (8725)
- FIR 8910 - Problems in Finance
- Major (24-30 hours):
- ECON 8810 - Econometrics 1
- ECON 8811 - Econometrics 2
- FIR 7410 - Seminar in Investment Theory (8410)
- FIR 8810 - Advanced Financial Mgmt and/or FIR 8820 Thry/Prac Finan Mgmt
- FIR 7648 - Entrepreneurial Finance
- FIR 7840 - Python for Finance and/or FIR - 8850 Fintech Seminar
- FIR 7726 - Current Topics in Finance
- FIR 7721 - Financial Derivatives (8721)
- Electives (6 hours):
- Two (2) Elective Courses
TOTAL = 72 credit hours needed to obtain a PhD in Finance
Next Step
Review the Admission Requirements for the PhD program and apply today!
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