The Executive MS in Finance (EMSF) is designed for experienced professionals who are seeking specialized knowledge and training in finance to become leaders in their field. It is an accelerated, cohort-based, 30-credit program with a modular structure and includes the following features:
The program is particularly designed to be application-oriented to enable executives to take classroom learning to the workplace.
The cohort enables students to learn from and challenge each other, share perspectives, build lasting relationships and develop critical workplace skills.
The program employs a variety of instructional modalities including in-class discussions, hands-on projects, case work, and role-playing that enrich the learning experience.
The foundational courses help students master fundamental financial concepts and become more effective at articulating them to key stakeholders.
The advanced and specialized courses equip executives with the latest financial strategies and techniques to respond to fast-moving financial developments.
The program includes a unique international business consulting practicum where students participate in team-based, real-life projects in a global context, which significantly enhance leadership and decision-making skills.
The Executive MS in Finance program leads to a Master of Science degree. The program can also serve as a stepping stone for those interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in finance or a related field.
Admission Requirements
Five or more years of professional/managerial experience. Generally, this experience should be post-undergraduate.
An undergraduate degree from an accredited university or foreign equivalent.
Appropriate quantitative skills acquired via academic training or professional experience. These skills may also be demonstrated through a satisfactory score on the Executive Assessment (EA), the GMAT, or the GRE.
EMSF Curriculum
The program has a total of 30 credits.
Required Core Courses (12 Credits) The required courses include topics in capital budgeting, capital structure, valuation, statistics, investment management and evaluation, regression analysis, value at risk, quantitative methods, portfolio theory, money and capital markets, financial statement analysis, fixed income analysis, and corporate diversification. | |||
Course # | Title | Credits | |
Corporate Financial Theory and Applications | 3 | ||
Quantitative Tools for Finance | 3 | ||
Investment Theory and Applications | 3 | ||
Special Topics in Corporate Finance: Financial Statement Analysis I | 1.5 | ||
Special Topics in Corporate Finance: Financial Statement Analysis II | 1.5 | ||
Elective Courses (15 credits) Elective courses will be selected by the Academic Director of the EMSF program in consultation with the program’s Curriculum Committee. These courses include several that have been custom-designed for the EMSF program to specifically provide real-world, application-oriented learning for working professionals. Examples of custom-designed courses in recent years include: | |||
Seminar in Finance: Fin Tech Business Strategies Designed by a CIS professor for the EMSF program, this course introduces students to technical concepts and applications from an information systems approach, and offers them foundational knowledge of fin tech that enables them to understand the “why” and “how” of fin tech applications they see in the financial markets. | 3 | ||
Seminar in Finance: Fundamentals of Financial Derivatives This course covers trading strategies, pricing models, and valuation concepts of of derivatives, ranging from forwards and futures, to swaps and options. | 3 | ||
Special Topics in Investments: Financial Engineering Designed by a professor of mathematics for the EMSF program, this course introduces students to concepts of financial engineering that build on their prior courses in the program to illustrate the power and potential for combining existing securities into new ones with unique payoff structures, and trading strategies firmly grounded in arbitrage concepts.
| 1.5 or 3 | ||
| Subtotal | 15 | |
Culminating Experience (Required, 3 credits) | |||
Seminar in Finance: International Business Consulting Practicum | 3 | ||
| Subtotal |
| 3 |
Total for Program | 30
| ||
The program reserves the right to amend, modify and change the courses offered and/or the sequence of courses.
Degree Requirements
Students must earn 30 credits for the MS degree, maintain a cumulative 3.00 grade point average (GPA), and satisfy all Baruch College, Zicklin School of Business, and Executive Programs policies, rules, and regulations.
A student whose GPA falls below 3.00 after taking 6 or more credits in the program will be on academic grade probation. He or she must comply with all Baruch College requirements of grade probation status to continue in the program. Please refer to the current Baruch College Graduate Bulletin, discussion of General Academic Regulations, for information on these requirements.
Because this is a cohort program, all students take the same courses together and in the same order. Many of the later courses in the program have one of the core courses as prerequisites. Any student who enters grade probation status may thus not be able to complete the EMSF program within the period of ten to eleven months.
Students taking all of the courses offered in this cohort program will be registered for 9 or more credits each semester. Thus they are considered to be full-time students.
Executive MS in Finance Degree Competencies & Program Learning Goals
Financial Reasoning Skills | Students will develop the skills needed to estimate the values of projects, companies, financial securities and derivatives; to evaluate the validity of these estimates; and to formulate and implement strategies based on them. |
Communication | Students will be effective oral and written communicators of financial data and concepts, and will be able to convey complex financial valuations, securities, and decision-making tools to others in the organization in clear, convincing ways. |
Leadership | Students will be able to originate and implement financial strategies that create value for their firms or investment portfolios. |
Global Awareness | Students will be able to utilize and apply their understanding of differences among global businesses and institutions in their financial practice and decision making. |
Ethical Awareness | Students will be aware of ethical issues in finance, and be able to demonstrate their ability to identify ethical conflicts in financial matters and either resolve or avoid them. |
Contact Information
Office of Executive Programs
Zicklin School of Business
Baruch College/CUNY
One Bernard Baruch Way, Box B13-282
New York, NY 10010-5585
Phone: (646) 312-3100
Fax: (646) 312-3101
Email: ExecZicklin@baruch.cuny.edu