Online Master of Science in Finance

Foundations in Accounting

This course educates students in the fundamentals of finance and accounting. The methods covered are used extensively throughout the MBA program. Topics include: the accounting process that results in the preparation of financial statements for external users, techniques for analyzing a basic set of financial statements, using accounting information to support management decisions, and using time value of money techniques to evaluate capital asset decisions. (MS Accounting students cannot earn credit by taking this course.) This course cannot be used as an elective course for Lindner College of Business Master's programs.

Foundations in Economics

This course provides an introduction to the fundamentals of economics at the graduate level for students without previous economics coursework. Students will be exposed to the essentials of both microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics topics to be discussed include the supply and demand mechanism,how markets are affected by regulation and taxation, costs of production, and how market structure affects outcomes. Macroeconomic topics to be discussed include the fundamental measures of the aggregate economy, the sources of economic growth, explaining short-run fluctuations in economic activity, and how government policies can affect these fluctuations. A particular focus will be to understand how fundamental economic principles at both the micro and macro level can affect companies, investments, industries, and national economies. This course may not be used as an elective course for Lindner College of Business Master's programs.

Data Analysis

Introduction to data analysis and statistical methods with focus on practical decisions using quantitative models in a spreadsheet environment. Topics include sources of data, descriptive and graphical statistical methods, probability, distributions, sampling and sampling distributions, estimation, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing. This course may not be used as an elective course for Lindner College of Business Master's programs.

Marketing Foundations

The purpose of this course is to provide students with a foundation in Marketing. Concepts such as segmentation, targeting, positioning, customer and market analysis, and basic marketing planning will be introduced. This course cannot be used as an elective for Linder College of Business master's students.

Organizations

The purpose of this course is to provide students with a foundation in the study of Organizations (Management) in preparation for the MBA or MS program. The goal is to provide students with an introduction to the study of organizations (strategy, structure, design, and context) to help students navigate through the advanced graduate course work and to become a more effective manager. This entails understanding how organizations work as well as developing requisite personal skills in problem analysis and writing. This course cannot be used for an elective course for Lindner College of Business master's programs.

Operations and Supply Chain Management

This course helps develop knowledge of the basic principles for operations and supply chain management (OSCM) through simulations and case studies. The focus is on decisions and activities involving the effective management of resources including, process improvement, supply management, logistics, and supply chain coordination

Financial Management

Building on the foundational material covered in FIN 7000 (time value of money, stock and bond pricing), the main goal of this course is to develop a set of techniques for valuing capital investment projects in privately and publicly traded companies. To support this goal, the course (1) develops a set of investment criterion, (2) examines valuation techniques, (3) develops asset pricing models (the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and the Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) in particular) to determine the appropriate required or opportunity cost of capital for discounting future cash flows, (4) considers basic risk management techniques, (5) examines how firms raise capital, and (6) analyzes the effect of financing choices on shareholder wealth, firm value, risk, and tax payments.  The course also defines real options and examines how real options are valued and affect capital budgeting decisions. To support this task, the course examines the definition, use, and pricing of derivative securities such as financial options. A secondary goal of the course is to consider what firms should do with the profits they generate given effective financial policies and decisions.  In particular, the course examines payout policy. Throughout, the goal is to have students develop intuition on financial issues so that they are not only able to analyze a variety of standard finance problems but are also capable of analyzing new issues that will arise in the ever-changing business environment.

Financial Econometrics

Analysis of financial data is a core component of investment management. You need to be comfortable and adept at sampling, modeling, regression analysis, and hypothesis design and testing in order to be an effective financial analyst. In this course we will cover many of the basic statistical and probability concepts that are central to financial analysis. Along the way we will touch on various finance concepts and terms, so, in part, this course will provide you with a conceptual introduction to various investment topics.

Equity Analysis

This course is about the analysis of financial information--particularly, but not limited to, a firm's financial statements--for making decisions about investing in a business. The primary focus is on equity (share) valuation, with some attention given to credit evaluation and the valuation of debt. The methods of fundamental analysis will be examined in detail.

Investments

This overview of investment analysis presents a comprehensive study of the theory and practice relevant to investment management. The course details the structure of markets, asset classes, and types of investment companies. Portfolio theory and asset pricing are a major focus of the course. A broad range of securities are analyzed including equities, bonds, and options; but for most topics the main focus will be on equity, leaving advanced fixed Income and derivatives topics to other courses. Many of the concepts covered are included in the body of knowledge leading to the CFA designation.

Options and Futures

The principal objective of this course is to provide a detailed examination of options, futures, forwards, and swaps. By the end of the course students will have a good knowledge of how these contracts work, how they are traded, how they are used, and how they are priced. A major emphasis in the class will be on how derivative instruments are used by financial institutions in light of recent economic events.

Masters in Finance Capstone

This course stresses the application of finance theory and methods to real business situations. While the focus of the project is finance related, a multi-disciplinary approach is desirable. A secondary objective of this course is to gain experience in collaborative teamwork to solve a business problem. All work in this course is team-based. You are required to work collaboratively and creatively with your team members to address the challenge presented. Peer evaluation and industry project coach’s evaluation of the team’s work is an important measure of your performance in this course.