Financial Technology MS Accelerated Master's Degree
The Department of Finance & Legal Studies offers an Accelerated MS degree program that allows students to simultaneously earn their BSBA with an emphasis in finance and their MS in Fintech in as few as ten semesters. Students in the Accelerated MS program will complete the MS through coursework.
The combined program requires a minimum of 138 credit hours. Students accepted to the Accelerated MS degree program will be permitted to count up to 12 credit hours at the 4000-level or higher toward both the BSBA and MS degrees; these courses will require additional work by the instructor. The remaining 18 credit hours must be at the 5000/6000 level.
Students are encouraged to work closely with the Undergraduate and Graduate Business Programs Directors to ensure that required courses are timed appropriately.
Eligibility
Students will need to have fulfilled the core curriculum requirements prior to applying for the Accelerated MS program.
Admission Requirements
Provisional Admission
Applicants are considered for provisional admission if they meet the following four criteria:
- Earned 60 hours as an undergraduate
- Completed the core curriculum requirements for the BSBA/Finance emphasis
- Have a minimum GPA of 3.0
- Have met with both the Undergraduate and Graduate Business Programs Director
The Graduate Business Programs Director, in consultation with the Undergraduate Director, will determine whether the student can apply for provisional status. Graduate courses completed by undergraduate students who have been provisionally admitted to Accelerated master’s program will be charged at the undergraduate tuition rate; however, these courses will count toward the master’s degree. These courses must be approved before the semester starts. Therefore, it is recommended to apply for provisional status as a junior, preferably in the first semester of junior year.
Graduate Admission
Students are considered for admission to the graduate school in their final semester in their undergraduate degree program. Students should meet with the Graduate Business Programs Director each semester. Applicants are considered for graduate admission if they meet the following criteria:
- Are in the last semester of their undergraduate degree.
- Have a minimum GPA of 3.0 since being granted provisional status; and
- Have met with the Graduate Business Programs Director in the College of Business Administration
The Graduate Business Programs Director, in consultation with the Undergraduate Director, will determine whether the student can apply for graduate admission. Final decisions concerning graduate admission are made by the Graduate School in consultation with the Graduate Business Programs Director. Students admitted to the graduate program have graduate status and must take graduate courses until completing the master's degree.
Program Requirements
Students with provisional admission in the 5th semester (Junior year) will continue the status of undergraduate standing until the end of 8th semester (Senior year) and will complete up to 12 graduate credits.
| Junior/Senior Year Courses 1 | ||
| FINANCE 6500 | Financial Management | 3 |
| Choose three of the following courses (9 hours) | ||
| FINANCE 6520 | Security Analysis | 3 |
| FINANCE 6503 | Computer Applications in Finance | 3 |
| FINANCE 6521 | Financial Forensics: The Science of Derivatives | 3 |
| FINANCE 6540 | Financial Institutions and Financial Markets | 3 |
| Final Year Courses (choose 6 courses, 18 hours) | ||
| Fall | ||
| FINANCE 6570 | Introduction to Fintech | 3 |
| FINANCE 6572 | Financial Data Analytics | 3 |
| FINANCE 6576 | Blockchain: Applications in Finance | 3 |
| Spring | ||
| FINANCE 6542 | Real Estate | 3 |
| FINANCE 6545 | Venture Capital and Private Equity | 3 |
| FINANCE 6574 | Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Finance | 3 |
| FINANCE 6590 | Seminar in Finance | 3 |
| Total Hours | 36 | |
- 1
All courses listed are 3-credit hour courses.
Awarding of Degrees
The student may apply for and receive the bachelor’s degree in the semester when all the undergraduate requirements are completed. In their final semester in undergraduate status, the student must apply and be admitted to the graduate program, to begin the following semester. The student will apply to receive the master’s degree in the semester that the requirements for the graduate degree will be completed.
If the student fails to enroll for more than one year after receiving the bachelor's degree, the student can still earn the master’s degree, but the graduate-level credits earned as an undergraduate cannot be used for the graduate degree.