Master of Finance

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Boost Your Career with Your Master of Finance Degree

With the right financial knowledge and insights — and the right finance master’s degree — you can become a leader and make a real impact in the financial management industry. Earning your Master of Finance (MFin) degree from the University of California, Riverside (UCR) will get you there.

UCR’s Master of Finance program builds financial analytics skills that you can apply to national and international careers in corporate finance, investment banking, risk management, and other areas of focus.

You can earn your UCR Master of Finance degree in nine months of full-time intensive study or you can take up to 15 months with our flexible study option.

Our Master of Finance program provides a comprehensive overview of the field of finance, with an emphasis on experiential learning. Our finance master’s degree program educates client-facing professionals to understand, translate, and present complex financial instruments effectively. Upon graduation, you will be equipped with the knowledge and skills you need to pursue professional certifications in finance.

Prepare for a Professional Certification with Your Finance Degree

Earning a professional certification identifies you as a financial specialist and can enhance your finance career. While there are many financial certifications to choose from including the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and the Financial Risk Manager (FRM), the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation is one of the most respected credentials in the investment management industry. It focuses on portfolio management, investment analysis, and ethics.

UCR's MFin program covers more than 70% of CFA exam material, giving you a significant advantage. The program will help you prepare to pass the CFA exam and will help you you gain relevant finance experience upon graduation, putting you on the path to becoming a CFA.

Explore the Master of Finance Program at UCR

Flexible:

Earn your degree in just 9 to 15 months

Respected:

Offering 48 units of top-quality courses

Foundational:

Complete 6 required courses
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Focused:

Select 2 restricted elective courses
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Personalized:

Select 2 recommended elective courses
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Experiential:

Complete 2 capstone seminar courses
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Career Options with Your Master of Finance Degree

As today's economy progresses through the next wave of a technological revolution, finance jobs will continue to be crucial. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment opportunities for financial managers in the United States are projected to grow by 16% from 2022 to 2032.

Top companies recently hiring UCR MFin graduates:

Citi
Blackrock
Deloitte
Ernst & Young (EY)
First Century Bank
KPMG
Merrill Lynch
MetLife
Niagara Bottling
Northrop Grumman
TLC North America

Finance job titles UCR MFin graduates have obtained:

Chief financial officer (CFO)
Corporate finance analyst/manager
Cost analyst/manager
Financial analyst/specialist/manager
Investment banking analyst/associate
Portfolio Manager
Quantitative analyst
Risk modeling analyst/manager
Wealth management advisor/manager
Among others

Benefits of UCR’s Master of Finance Degree

A STEM-Designated Degree Program

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Our finance master’s degree program is a STEM-designated program, which allows international students to apply for 36 months of Optional Practical Training (OPT) to work in the United States in their field of study after graduation. Graduates of STEM-designated master’s programs make more money on average than non-STEM-designated graduate programs.

Access the Bloomberg Terminal

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As a student in UCR’s MFin program, you will have access to a Bloomberg Terminal, which allows you to obtain real-time financial data, comprehensive stock quotes, and news from numerous financial and economic sources.

Learn About our Hylander Student Investment Fund

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The Hylander Student Investment Fund (HSIF) allows MFin students to apply their knowledge of security analysis and investment management in a real-world setting. The fund is managed by a select team of students in the School of Business and supervised by a faculty advisor, an advisory board comprised of financial professionals, and officers of the UCR Foundation.

Benefit from CFA Preparation

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One of the best paths to career success in finance is to become a chartered financial analyst (CFA). UCR partners with Wiley Efficient Learning to offer MFin students the opportunity to participate in a co-curricular education program at a discounted rate to pass the CFA Level I exam.

A limited number of fully funded scholarships for this program are additionally available to qualifying UCR students. The program includes 15 weeks of training: you’ll begin in January to prepare for the June exam.

UCR MFin Spotlight

2022 Best Master’s of Finance Programs - TFE Times

UCR Master of Finance Program Featured News

Get Started

4 students walking down the stairs of Anderson Hall, UCR School of Business

Additional Information and Resources

ADMISSION

Finance CURRICULUM

FINANCE CLASS PROFILE

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

FINANCING YOUR PROGRAM

BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

UCR GENERAL CATALOG

Application Deadlines

Priority Round:

December 15

Round 2:

January 31

Round 3:

March 31

International Final:

June 1

Final Round:

August 1

I had the opportunity to be a founding member of the Hylander Student Investment Fund, where we managed real dollars. It was meaningful and fulfilling working as a team with people who are very driven and want to pursue the same things you do. The experience definitely paid off in my career.

Zachary Enes ’19 MFin

Risk Modeling Analyst, Citizens Business Bank

The MFin courses at UCR and my involvement in extracurriculars such as the Hylander Student Investment Fund helped boost my confidence as a job seeker as well as improve my financial modeling and public speaking skills. Upon graduation, I received multiple job offers that I credit to my improved skills and resume.

Sindy Fabrizio ’21 MFin

Senior Financial Analyst, Paramount Global

The Master of Finance program gave me a deeper understanding of the financial industry, the excel skills I needed to do financial analytics, and helped me develop a clear career plan, leading to a dream job at TCL.

Zhihe (Mark) Yan ’21 MFin

Financial Analyst, TCL

From the get-go, the coursework really helped me prepare to speak intelligently and feel confident in what I was saying and my understanding of the market. The program gave me the tools to understand the basic economic concepts and principles of inflation and to not only speak to clients about why their portfolio is underperforming but also to make recommendations for a high performing portfolio.

Jerrold Penprase ’17 MFin

Financial Specialist, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS)

With the analytics skills learned in the MFin program, the interpersonal and cross-cultural skills gained at the school, and my personal interest in the work, I have been able to break into the User Experience (UX) industry and apply my financial analytics skills to set me apart as a UX Designer.

Dorothy Chen ’13 MFin

Senior UX Designer, Byte Dance

I am very grateful to have been a part of the MFin program at UCR. The program gave me an opportunity to develop my quantitative skillset with myriad resources available including Bloomberg Terminal and access to faculty members with diverse personal and professional backgrounds.

Aagam Shah ’20 MFin

Financial Analyst II, Niagara Bottling Company

The program was a nice mix of both the art and quantitative side of investing. In fact, having gone over obscure off-balance-sheet financing items in the Financial Statement Analysis course, I was able to give an analysis in an onsite case study interview and caught a key component in the valuation model that the senior analyst had overlooked.

Randolph Kim ’14 MFin

Senior Investment Associate at TI Capital Management

Brandon Fajardo, UCR School of Business Grad Student Associations

The MFin program bridged the gap between my engineering background and finance. It taught me to analyze financial data, use software like Bloomberg, and Excel in presenting results. The Hylander Student Investment Fund advisors provided mentorship and research experience in healthcare, all of which equipped me for my current financial role.

Brandon Fajardo ’22 MFin

Financial Analyst, Internal Medicine, UCR School of Medicine