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Master of Science in Finance Online

Business may run on numbers, but it relies on people who can build and analyze sophisticated models to translate financial figures into bold insights and innovative strategies. The finance professionals who have a firm grasp of the technical skills and practices of finance have the singular ability to clearly deliver contemporary solutions in all facets of management and finance.

The Online Master of Science in Finance (MSF) from William & Mary’s Raymond A. Mason School of Business has a 30% shorter time to completion than the average MSF program and will give you a deep dive into finance more quickly and thoroughly than a typical MBA. The Online MSF program prepares future CFOs with the quantitative and leadership skills necessary to identify value creation opportunities and assess risk, navigate global challenges, foster change and create value in an ethical manner.

*Online MS in Finance students are invited to join other W&M online students at one of the immersive residency weekends at our Williamsburg campus. Students who attend a residency will earn one additional credit. Read more about the residency weekend experience.

Online Master’s in Finance Program Details

16 Months to Completion
32 Credits
8 Courses
7.5 Weeks Per Course
100% online
Optional weekend residency*
No GMAT/GRE required
3 starts per year: August, January and May

Invest in Your Future With the Online Master of Science in Finance Program

From a career as a financial manager to the C-suite, you’ll benefit from a strong outlook for financial careers.

17%

Increase in financial manager jobs through 2031¹

$131,710

median annual pay for financial managers in May 2021²

#14

Financial manager ranking in Best Paying Jobs³

#2

Financial manager ranking for Best Business Jobs³

$184,793

Average base annual salary for a CFO⁴

Where Theory Meets Reality

Get the Hands-on Learning You Need to Succeed

Build essential knowledge you need for a successful finance career with immersive learning experiences that demonstrate practical applications of course materials. Immersive experiences include:

Case analysis
Strategic-decision making exercises based on the uncertainty of financial models
Extensive simulation exercises for authentic experiences in forecasting, modeling, exercising strategic skills and making decisions

Through these experiences, you will build confidence to step into leadership positions and gain knowledge and skills that apply to your work now and in the future. Graduate from this program as a well-rounded financial professional.

What skills will you acquire in the online master's in finance program?

Analyzing financial statements
Forecasting complete sets of financial statements
Preparing three-statement models
Pricing securities in modern financial markets
Creating value for shareholders
Understanding how firms interact with financial markets
Building and interpreting valuation models in Excel

Portfolio management and investment management in various asset classes
Using financial software tools
Analyzing individual and organizational behavior
Comprehending the homebuying process
Programming complex mortgages
Generating income from each quadrant of real estate

Course Highlight
Corporate Valuation and Credit Analysis

In this course, you will become familiar with the tools and techniques for valuing corporate investment projects and assets in a wide range of settings. Get hands-on experience in building and interpreting valuation models in Excel, the same models commonly used by corporate financial managers, investment managers and investment bankers.

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

Analyze the ability of a firm to generate cash flow for investors
Apply comparables analysis to estimate the value of a company
Evaluate the uses and limitations of comparables analysis
Apply various discounted cash flow approaches to estimate the value of a company
Evaluate the uses and limitations of various discounted cash flow approaches
Analyze the credit quality of a firm

Two professional students in button up shirts looking at financial charts on a computer monitor

Become a Confident Leader in Finance

Meet the challenge to elevate your performance and accelerate your career. The Online Master of Science in Finance strives to develop confident leaders in finance. When you graduate from this program, you will be able to successfully employ skills leaders need, including:

Technical and analytical skills—Use Excel and other industry-specific software to construct, analyze and interpret sophisticated financial models
Scenario analysis—Model the consequences of different outcomes to inform decisions on whether to take/mitigate certain risks and to optimize performance
Financial strategy—Shape overall strategy by overseeing the financial health of organizations, key performance indicators and instilling a financial mindset that identifies uncertainties, challenges, and growth opportunities
Communication skills—Communicate complex financial data and insights effectively by creating presentations and financial reports

Course Highlight
Advanced Corporate Finance

In this course, you will study the major decision-making areas of managerial finance. The course reviews the theory and empirical evidence related to investment and financing policies of the firm and develops decision-making ability in these areas.

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

Recognize the “art and science” of optimal strategic decision-making, especially in financial policy
Identify financial problems and opportunities within a variety of settings
Develop the capacity to structure a management decision problem and evaluate competing solutions
Prepare written reports about the analysis and solution of management decision problems concisely

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Top Industries Hiring for CFOs⁵

Online Master's in Finance Courses Overview

Our Online Master’s in Finance program is centered on four pillars—principled value creation; financial modeling, analysis and decision-making; global financial strategy; and effective communication of complex financial information and strategies. These are the conceptual and technical skills every finance professional must possess and fully master in order to find near and long-term success in corporate finance, investment management, real estate finance, commercial banking, consulting and more. These are the skills our Online MS in Finance curriculum prepares you to master.

Our 32-credit curriculum can be broken down into the following two types of courses:

6 core courses, worth a total of 24 credits
4 elective courses, worth a total of 16 credits

Complete your degree in 16 months with 8 total courses—6 core classes and 2 electives of your choosing for a deep dive into finance more quickly and thoroughly than a general MBA program.

Core Online MS in Finance Courses (24 credits)

BUAD 5027 Financial Statement Analysis and Modeling (4 credits)

This course introduces students to the elements of financial statement analysis and increases students' ability to extract and use information from financial reports. In addition, students will learn how to use this information to forecast a complete set of financial statements (Balance Sheet, Income Statement and Statement of Cash Flows) and prepare a three statement model.
Information from financial statements is used in many situations including setting targets for manager's bonus plans, determining loan covenants, setting prices for IPO's, setting prices for mergers or acquisitions, deciding whether to loan a company money, and deciding whether to purchase the stock of a company. When using financial statement information, people routinely make adjustments to net income to estimate what they believe is the true economic income of the firm (e.g., "core earnings" or "economic value-added"). In this class, students will learn how to evaluate the information provided in financial statements and draw your own conclusions about whether it accurately reflects the financial position of the firm.

BUAD 5127 Principles of Finance (4 credits)

Finance focuses on how people and businesses evaluate investment opportunities and raise capital to fund them. This course will provide you with an understanding of the financial principles that guide decision-making and equip you with the basic tools necessary for analyzing and interpreting financial data. The goal is to learn how to price securities in modern financial markets and to develop insights into the methods by which financial managers can create value for their shareholders.

BUAD 5417Advanced Corporate Finance (4 credits)

The objective of this course is to study the major decision-making areas of managerial finance. The course reviews the theory and empirical evidence related to investment and financing policies of the firm and to develop decision-making ability in these areas.

Building on previous courses, this course incorporates richer institutional details and deepens understanding of how firms interact with the financial markets. Topics to be included are: financing investments with capital market imperfections, corporate control, governance and risk management.

BUAD 5317 Corporate Valuation and Credit Analysis (4 credits)

This course will familiarize students with the tools and techniques for valuing corporate investment projects and assets in a wide range of settings. It offers hands-on experience in building and interpreting valuation models in Excel as commonly used by corporate financial managers, investment managers and investment bankers.

BUAD 5527 Investments (4 credits)

The course introduces the theory and practice of portfolio management and investments in various asset classes. Emphasis is placed on wealth/asset management and hands-on development and use of financial software tools. Topics include financial markets and intermediaries, measuring risk and return, asset allocation, portfolio optimization and wealth management. Students will emerge from this course with a thorough understanding of modern techniques in asset management and the ability to apply these techniques in practice.

BUAD 5617 Applied Investment Management (4 credits)

This course introduces students to the theoretical foundation and practical skills that are essential to managing investment portfolios. Students will also learn up-to-date knowledge on financial markets and the asset management industry. We begin with bond pricing and bond portfolio management. We then discuss equity and fixed income derivatives and structured products, and their applications in managing investment risks. Finally, we study how to evaluate investment performance.

Elective Online MS in Finance Courses (16 credits)

BUAD 6007 Behavioral Finance (4 credits)

This course analyzes how individuals, firms and other organizations make decisions. Standard economic and financial models assume rational agents, even though people may not always act rationally. In this course, we will study theories and evidence from psychology on individual decision-making, focusing on biases, heuristics and other factors that are missing from these standard models. We will discuss and analyze topical applications to economics (e.g., intertemporal choice, retirement savings, altruism) and finance (e.g., efficient markets, investor psychology, bubbles), including improved economic theory and potential public policy responses. The course will also improve students' understanding of individual behavior with an aim to improve their own decision-making in professional and personal settings.

BUAD 6207 Real Estate Finance (4 credits)

The value of real estate is roughly the same as that of the stock market, yet business decision-makers often overlook its importance. For example, real estate requires a fundamental choice for every firm and individual: the decision to rent vs. own commercial/residential real estate. The real estate market collapse in 2008, which led to a global financial crisis, has changed the way we think about commercial and residential real estate. It is of great import to manage the financial risk of real estate as its very nature is to have tremendous financial leverage. This class will cover a wide range of real estate topics from understanding the home buying process to programming complex mortgages.

BUAD 6307 Real Estate Investments (4 credits)

Real Estate has become an established asset class in which private individuals and institutions, pensions, life companies and foreign investors have increasingly invested. This is due largely to real estate's large investable universe, high yield, low volatility and diversification characteristics, resulting in potentially enhanced diversified portfolio risk adjusted returns. Broadly speaking, real estate's investable universe can be categorized into four quadrants, based on whether the investment is public or private, and whether the investment is equity or debt. While each quadrant has distinct investment characteristics, the underlying property and its ability to generate rental income ultimately drives investment performance. As such, an understanding of real estate property types, markets, underlying assets and tenancy, along with the respective space and capital markets in which an asset operates, is necessary when analyzing an investment opportunity. Additionally, an understanding of the various real estate investment vehicles, strategies and structures is important, especially when considering a real estate investment in the context of a multi-asset portfolio. In this course, students will explore each of these and several related topics that will improve their understanding of the real estate asset class, and if desired, prepare them for exciting careers in the real estate industry.

BUAD 6107 Money, Banking and Financial Markets (4 credits)

At the macro level, financial institutions and financial markets exist as the key intermediaries needed for efficient allocation of capital in a market economy. Financial intermediaries are entities, like banks and mutual funds, that take in household savings on the one hand, and, on the other hand, allocate these savings to businesses and others for investment in productive capital projects such as new factories, new software development and so on. However, among financial institutions, and both central banks, like the Federal Reserve and commercial banks, like Bank of America, are considered special because of the additional unique role they play in operation of the monetary system, which includes the money supply and related means of payment, which underlies all economic transactions.
The intertwined goals of this course are to (1) develop a strategic-level understanding of the economics of the financial sector as a whole, including interest rate and exchange rate determination, money creation by central banks, the operations of banks and the payments system, and (2) develop in depth knowledge of how some of the largest individual money/financial markets function, what financial services and products these markets offer, and how these products might be of value to the corporations and investors. The key financial markets analyzed in this course are the money markets, including both the commercial and shadow banking systems, the foreign exchange markets and role of banks as broker-dealers, public and private bond placement, the mortgage markets, and interest rate swaps. Among the financial institutions we examine are the two most important central banks, U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, large commercial banks, money market mutual fund companies, and foreign exchange market makers.

Want more insight?

Explore what’s ahead in the Online MS in Finance program—download our program details guide, your one-stop document for admissions requirements, courses and more.

Download the Guide

Discover Our Online Master's Program Experience

See the Online Classroom

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Capitalize on Career Development

Meet W&M Faculty

Who’s Earning the Online MS in Finance?

Get a snapshot of the people most likely to be in your cohort⁶:

42%

students of color

11

years of work experience

32%

female

35

average student age

Keep Asking Questions

What skills will I acquire in the master of science in finance online program?

You’ll gain the quantitative and leadership skills necessary to identify value creation opportunities and assess risk, navigate global challenges, foster change and create value in an ethical manner.

You’ll become fluent in:

Analyzing financial statements
Forecasting complete sets of financial statements
Preparing three-statement models
Pricing securities in modern financial markets
Creating value for shareholders
Understanding how firms interact with financial markets
Building and interpreting valuation models in Excel
Portfolio management and investment management in various asset classes

Using financial software tools
Analyzing individual and organizational behavior
Comprehending the home buying process
Programming complex mortgages
Generating income from each quadrant of real estate

What can I do with a master’s in finance?

You can expect to have many, varied career options, including in such roles as:

Finance officer
Forensic accountant
Financial analyst
Financial manager
Portfolio manager
Wealth manager
Investment banking analyst
Finance and insurance manager
Actuary
Corporate controller
Vice president of finance
Chief financial officer

What salary can I earn with a master’s in finance?

Salaries for each position will depend on the role, industry and location. As of May 2021, the annual pay for a financial manager was $131,710.² The average annual base salary for a CFO as of May 2023 was $184,793.⁴

Get to Know the Raymond A. Mason School of Business

About the Raymond A. Mason School of Business

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Jun

Priority Application Deadline

June 9th

Fall 2023 Term

Jul

Application Deadline

July 28th

Fall 2023 Term

Aug

Next Start

August 28th

Fall 2023 Term

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Sources

Retrieved January 19, 2023, from bls.gov/ooh/management/financial-managers.htm#tab-6
Retrieved January 19, 2023, from bls.gov/ooh/management/financial-managers.htm
Retrieved January 19, 2023, from money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/financial-manager
Retrieved May 30, 2023, from glassdoor.com/Salaries/chief-financial-officer-salary-SRCH_KO0,23.htm
Retrieved May 4, 2023, from ziprecruiter.com/t/Most-Popular-Types-Of-CFO-Jobs
Based on data from enrolled 2021-2022 cohorts.

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Master of Science in Finance Online

Online Master’s in Finance Program Details

Invest in Your Future With the Online Master of Science in Finance Program

17%

$131,710

#14

#2

$184,793

Where Theory Meets Reality

Get the Hands-on Learning You Need to Succeed

What skills will you acquire in the online master's in finance program?

Course HighlightCorporate Valuation and Credit Analysis

Become a Confident Leader in Finance

Course HighlightAdvanced Corporate Finance

Grow as a Business and People Leader

Top Industries Hiring for CFOs5

Online Master's in Finance Courses Overview

Core Online MS in Finance Courses (24 credits)

BUAD 5027 Financial Statement Analysis and Modeling (4 credits)

BUAD 5127 Principles of Finance (4 credits)

BUAD 5417Advanced Corporate Finance (4 credits)

BUAD 5317 Corporate Valuation and Credit Analysis (4 credits)

BUAD 5527 Investments (4 credits)

BUAD 5617 Applied Investment Management (4 credits)

Elective Online MS in Finance Courses (16 credits)

BUAD 6007 Behavioral Finance (4 credits)

BUAD 6207 Real Estate Finance (4 credits)

BUAD 6307 Real Estate Investments (4 credits)

BUAD 6107 Money, Banking and Financial Markets (4 credits)

Discover Our Online Master's Program Experience

Who’s Earning the Online MS in Finance?

42%

11

32%

35

Keep Asking Questions

What skills will I acquire in the master of science in finance online program?

What can I do with a master’s in finance?

What salary can I earn with a master’s in finance?

Get to Know the Raymond A. Mason School of Business

Interested in Our Online Programs?

Priority Application Deadline

Application Deadline

Next Start

Course Highlight
Corporate Valuation and Credit Analysis

Course Highlight
Advanced Corporate Finance

Top Industries Hiring for CFOs⁵