MS in Financial Engineering

Offered jointly by the Institute of Mathematical Sciences and the Drucker School of Management, the Master of Science in Financial Engineering (MSFE) provides a flexible interdisciplinary curriculum that allows you to tailor your study to align it with your professional goals. Its hallmark: a close integration of management and mathematics.

This unique program combines a substantial mathematics and finance curriculum that gives you the skills to evaluate complex financial products and help you become a strategic leader in the field. The MFSE program draws on tools from applied math, statistics, and financial and economic theory while integrating managerial concepts and applications. Our program ranks among the top 25 financial engineering programs nationally and gives our graduates excellent preparation for careers in risk management, investment, banking, corporate finance, hedge funds, derivatives, and more.

Program Highlights

Flexible interdisciplinary curriculum, with a full- and part-time options, lets you tailor your study to align with your professional goals within quantitative finance or data analytics.
You may concentrate in data analytics or pursue a dual degree in mathematics to keep yourself competitive in quantitative fields. You’ll learn from experienced practitioners with expertise ranging from emerging markets to risk management and beyond.
Financial engineering students may apply to the two-year dual MSFE/MS in Mathematics program to enhance their quantitative knowledge and broaden their professional opportunities.
Financial engineering students have the opportunity to participate in client-based projects through the Engineering & Computational Mathematics Clinic program.
Our MSFE program is STEM designated, allowing international graduates of the program to remain in the U.S. for 36 months after graduation and receive work-based training.
MSFE alumni go on to leadership roles in some of the most prominent financial firms and companies in the world, such as Goldman Sachs, Barclays, and AIG.

Program At a Glance

UNITS
40 units

COMPLETION TIME
1.5–2 years

COURSES BEGIN
Fall | Spring

DEGREE AWARDED
MS in Financial Engineering

Featured Courses

MGT 335

Corporate Finance

Develops understanding of financial decision making—including investment decisions, financing decisions, and their interaction—and examines the underlying framework of corporate finance, including valuation, market efficiency, portfolio theory, agency costs, and information costs.

MGT 402

Asset Management Practicum

Studies theories of asset management via textbook and other readings, lectures, case studies and student and guest speaker presentations.

MGT 339

Financial Derivatives

Provides a platform for students to gain expertise on financial derivative instruments and develop the mathematical tools necessary for derivatives analysis, design, and pricing in a managerial context.

MATH 358

Mathematical Finance

Explores the theory of option pricing, with emphasis on Black-Scholes and interest rate models. Requires mature understanding of multivariable calculus and probability.

MATH 454

Statistical Learning

Teaches statisticians and financial engineering practitioners cutting-edge statistical learning techniques to deal with vast and complex data in fields ranging from biology and finance to marketing and astrophysics.

MATH 351

Time Series Analysis

Undertakes an analysis of time series data by means of such particular models as ARIMA, spectral analysis, and associated methods of inference and applications.

Curriculum

The Financial Engineering Program at the Drucker School provides a flexible interdisciplinary curriculum. Forty units are required to complete the degree. Twelve of those units are elective courses, which you can choose from the options below.

Core Courses

Corporate Finance
Financial Derivatives
Introduction to Risk Management
Asset Management Practicum
Statistical Theory

Stochastic Processes
Mathematical Finance
Time Series Analysis
Quantitative Risk Management
Optimal Portfolio Theory (2 units)

Electives

Behavioral Finance & Risk Management
Econometrics III
Game Theory
Financial Statement Analysis
Energy Derivatives
Global Finance
Strategy
Financial Strategy & Policy
Competing in a Global Environment
Economics of Strategy
Entrepreneurial Finance
Selected Topics in Finance: Fixed Income & Other Investments
Intro to C++

Numerical Analysis
Partial Differential Equations
Mathematical Modeling
Math Clinic (two-semester sequence)
Linear Statistical Models
Simulation
Numerical Methods for Finance
Credit Risk
Data Mining
Advanced Numerical Analysis
Discrete Mathematical Modeling
Bayesian Data Analysis
Statistical Learning

Year 1
Semester	Courses	Total Units
Fall	Corporate Finance, Introduction to Risk Management, Statistics	12 Units
Spring	Stochastic Processes, Financial Time Series, Financial Derivatives, Elective (Math or Finance)	16 Units

Year 2
Semester	Courses	Total Units
Fall	Mathematical Finance, Asset Management Practicum, Quantitative Risk Management OR Optimal Portfolio Theory, Elective (Math or Finance)	12 Units

Faculty & Research

Henry Schellhorn

Associate Professor of Mathematics
Academic Director, Financial Engineering Program

Research Interests

Financial engineering, Credit risk, Interest rate models

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Ayca Altintig

Assistant Professor of Finance

Research Interests

Agency Theory, Corporate Governance and Compensation, International Finance

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Michael Imerman

Assistant Professor of Finance
Co-Director, Financial Engineering Program

Research Interests

Credit Risk Modeling, Banking, Financial Regulation, Risk Management, Securitization, FinTech Innovation

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John Angus

Professor of Mathematics
Director, Institute of Mathematical Sciences

Research Interests

Probability, Statistics, Computing, Algorithms, Navigation, Systems Engineering, Mathematical Finance

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Marina Chugunova

Associate Professor of Mathematics
Program Director, PhD in Engineering & Computational Mathematics

Research Interests

Surfactant-driven thin film flows in biomedical applications; Nonlinear parabolic equations; Stability problems in fluid dynamics; Scientific computations; Applied operator theory; Sturm-Liouville problems

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Ellis Cumberbatch

Professor of Mathematics Emeritus

Research Interests

Applied mathematics, Industrial modeling, Differential equations, Fluid mechanics, Wave propagation, Semi-conductors

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Ali Nadim

Professor of Mathematics
Joseph H. Pengilly Chair in Mathematics

Research Interests

Fluid Dynamics, Mathematical Modeling, Scientific Computing

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Qidi Peng

Research Assistant Professor of Mathematics

Research Interests

Statistical inferences, Stochastic differential equations, Stochastic modeling, Simulation, Machine learning, Approximation theory, Graph theory

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Allon Percus

Professor of Mathematics

Research Interests

Discrete optimization; Network models; Statistical physics; Random combinatorial structures

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Andrew Nguyen

Adjunct Professor of Mathematics

Research Interests

Stochastic processes, Statistics, Risk management, Financial derivatives, Actuarial sciences, Statistical software

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Jay Prag

Clinical Associate Professor

Research Interests

Corporate finance, Investments, Economics of strategy, Macroeconomics, Nonprofits, Corporate culture

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James Wallace

Associate Professor of Accounting

Research Interests

Accounting, Finance, Financial statement analysis, Sustainability

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