Finance, M.S.

I. Contact Information

Hongchao Zeng, Ph.D., Graduate Program Director
Department of Managerial Sciences
(775) 682-9195
hzeng@unr.edu
Graduate Handbook

II. Brief Introduction

The Master of Science in Finance program is designed to provide the foundations students will need to adapt and excel in the rapidly changing environment of the finance profession. The Finance faculty at the University of Nevada, Reno are dedicated to presenting students with solid fundamentals, along with cutting edge topics and techniques in investments, portfolio management, working capital management, and real estate investment.
The Master of Science in Finance program develops strong technical and analytical skills in the area of finance, considerably beyond the introductory level courses presented to undergraduates, and helps students acquire the core conceptual knowledge about the applications of those skills in solving financial business problems and furthering the body of knowledge through ongoing research. The program emphasizes the skills needed to succeed in the business community, including teamwork, leadership and the ability to communicate effectively.
The Master of Science in Finance program, which primarily targets those students with Finance, Economics, Accounting, Engineering, and quantitative backgrounds who wish to pursue or advance their careers in Finance, is sufficiently flexible to accommodate students with a bachelor’s degree in any field.

III. Program Objectives/Student Learning Outcomes

The MSF program intends to teach an in-depth knowledge of Finance to its students. The objective of the program is for graduates to be able to apply financial decision making skills to complex problems and situations.

Specifically, the learning objectives and outcomes of the program are the following:

• The ability to use evidence-based reasoning to understand, manage and address complex financial decisions.
• Development of skills that facilitate problem solving in a complex and dynamic environments.
• The ability to apply qualitative and quantitative information into the decision making process.

IV. Admission Requirements

The Finance faculty requires each new graduate to satisfy the following program pre-enrollment requirements:
Microcomputer proficiency: Students should be knowledgeable of microcomputer operating systems, word processing, spreadsheet and electronic communication applications (i.e. e-mail, electronic databases and the internet) prior to enrollment in the program.
Proficiency in English: If an international student’s verbal score on the GMAT, TOEFL, or other evaluation measure is below an acceptable level, a student may be required to enroll in English language development classes either prior to enrollment in the program or during the first semester of his/her academic program.

V. Program Requirements

The program consists of two choices: Plan A (non-thesis) with 33 credits and Plan B (thesis) with 30 credits.

VI. Total Units

The program consists of two choices: Plan A (non-thesis) with 33 credits and Plan B (thesis) with 30 credits. 

VII. Note(s):

* Curriculum requirements in the catalog supersede the Graduate handbook.

VIII. Undergraduate Prerequisites

A bachelor’s degree in business or finance is not required for admission. Students are expected to have completed the following courses within five years of admission to the program:

1. Basic Calculus (equivalent to MATH 176  ); students should be able to understand derivatives, integration, and related mathematical concepts.
2. Statistics of Decision Making (equivalent to BADM 700 ; students should understand the basic notions of sampling theory, nonparametric sample comparison, regression analysis, and hypothesis testing.
3. Financial Reporting and Accounting (equivalent to BADM 710 ); students should understand the structure and formation of accounting statements and should be able to discern financial information from these statements.
4. Intermediate Microeconomics (equivalent to ECON 302  ); students should understand laws of supply and demand, cost and profit analysis of different types of firms, utility theory and related concepts.
5. Intermediate Macroeconomics (equivalent to ECON 303 ), if Advanced Macroeconomics ECON 703  is taken as an elective; students should understand how the interaction between markets and governments affect the economy’s output, employment, income, interest rate, wage, price, and trade balance levels over time.

Student who have not completed the aforementioned or equivalent courses, must complete equivalent courses (i.e., BADM 700 , BADM 710  , MATH 176 , ECON 302  and ECON 303  ) at the University of Nevada, Reno. Determination of course waivers is made upon approval of a student’s request for a course waiver by the Appeals Committee after the student’s acceptance into the Master of Science, Finance major program.