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 format 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 steppingstone 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 | |
| Subtotal | 12 |
Elective Courses (15 credits) These courses are selected by the program Academic Director and Curriculum Committee from the graduate business courses that are offered in the Zicklin School of Business. Shown here are courses that have been offered in recent years. This list may be modified from year to year to reflect developments in the field and topics of current interest. In addition to traditional courses, these may include special topics courses that are designed for particular cohorts. Special topics courses may be offered more than once in the same cohort, as long as the topic is different. | ||
Mergers and Acquisitions | 3 | |
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 derivatives, ranging from forwards and futures, to swaps and options. | 3 | |
Advanced Managerial Finance | 3 | |
Advanced Investment Analysis | 3 | |
Debt Instruments and Markets | 3 | |
Options Markets | 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. | 3 | |
Special Topics in Investments | 1.5 | |
Special Topics in Investments | 3 | |
Special Topics in Corporate Finance | 1.5 | |
Special Topics in Corporate Finance | 3 | |
| Subtotal | 15 |
Culminating Experience (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 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 9 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 in this cohort program will be registered for 9 or more credits each semester.
Executive MS in Finance Program Learning Goals
Executive Leadership | Executive students will develop a strategic and analytical mindset that prepares them to guide their organizations in the face of innovation and disruptive changes in the business and social environments. |
Financial Reasoning Skills and Knowledge | Executive students will gain knowledge and develop analytical 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. |
Executive Communication | Executive students will be effective, persuasive (1) oral and (2) written communicators of financial data and concepts, and will be able to convey complex financial valuations, securities, and decision-making tools that lead to commitment and successful action. |
Global Awareness | Executive students will gain knowledge of differences among global businesses and institutions in their financial practice and decision making, and understand how to formulate, design, and build international strategies, as well as understand how the strategies are implemented, to benefit their organizations. |
Ethical and Social Awareness | Executive students will be aware of ethical issues in finance in particular and business in general and be able to demonstrate their ability to identify ethical conflicts in financial matters and either resolve or avoid them. They will be able to do so in ways that reflect financial as well as non-financial goals, such as corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and diversity. |
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