Finance Master's At 100 Top Business Schools

Columbia Business School Columbia University – Ethan Baron photo

To get an idea of graduates’ outcomes from master’s in finance degrees at U.S. business schools, it’s helpful to take a look at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management, which runs a nine-month finance master’s that costs just under $50,000. Average salary data is, of course, interesting and important. But probably more interesting and important than the fact that Owen’s 2015 finance grads earned an average salary of $70,000 is what kinds of positions those graduates ended up in: a whopping 42% in investment banking; 29% in investments and research; 16% in financial consulting and advisory; 8% in corporate finance; and 5% in real estate.

At elite Columbia Business School, the highest-ranked institution in the top 100 to offer a finance master’s, the two-year financial economics program, which costs $53,000, prepares students for positions in investment and commercial banks, hedge funds, consulting firms, pension funds, and policy-focused groups. Columbia’s program is very small – there were only four students in the class of 2015, and 15 in the class of 2016, compared to 44 in Owen’s finance master’s class of ’15 – but since the degree was unveiled in 2013, every graduate has received an internship, full-time job, or entry into a graduate program within three years of graduation, according to the school.

Finance Master’s At 100 Top Business Schools

Rank	School	Program	Duration	Tuition
6	Columbia Business School	Financial Economics	2 years	$106,000
7	MIT Sloan School of Management	Finance	1 year; 18 months	1 year: $75,850; 18 months: $100,350
8	U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business	Financial Engineering	1 year	$66,082
14	UCLA Anderson School of Management	Financial Engineering	13 1/2 months	$58,986
16	NYU Stern School of Business	Global Finance (executive) 60% in China, 40% in U.S.	1 year	$69,000
18	University of Texas-Austin McCombs School of Business	Finance	<1 year	In-state: $43,000; out-of-state: $48,000
19	Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business	Computational Finance	16 months	$80,400
21	Indiana University Kelley School of Business	Finance (online)	18 months (or up to five years)	$38,100
23	Georgetown University McDonough School of Business	Finance (online)	20 months	$69,760
24	Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business	Finance	1 year	$57,100
25	Michigan State Broad College of Business	Finance	1 year	In-state: $37,500; out-of-state: $39,600
26	USC Marshall School of Business	Finance	1 year	$60,000 (includes program fees)
28	Vanderbilt University Owen GSM	Finance	9 months	$49,950
29	University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management	Finance	1 year	In-state: $41,265; out-of-state: $57,015
30	Washington University Olin Business School	Finance	11 months	$56,100
30	Washington University Olin Business School	Finance (global)	11-20 months	$45,400 for 2015/16 academic year, plus varying tuition at partner universities of $15,000-$30,000
31	Ohio State Fisher College of Business	Finance	1 year	In-state: $55,632; out-of-state: $55,642
34	Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business	Quantitative and Computational Finance	18 months	In-state: $25,461; out-of-state: $56,067
35	University of Maryland Smith School of Business	Finance	9 months	In-state: $46,140; out-of-state: $58,740
36	Arizona State Carey School of Business	Finance	9 months	In-state: $31,600; out-of-state: $47,800; international: $48,000
38	University of Rochester Simon Business School	Finance (also part-time at Rochester and in New York City)	10 months or 17 months (internship track); (part-time: avg. 3 1/2 years Rochester; 13 months New York City)	$75,000 ($70,000 with prior MBA degree); (part-time: $1,745/credit hour Rochester; $63,000 New York City)
39	Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business	Finance	9 months	$43,200
40	University of Pittsburgh Katz GSB	Finance	8 months	In-state: $27,218; out-of-state: $36,534
41	Texas A & M Mays Business School	Finance	10 months	$30,743
42	Boston University Questrom School of Business	Mathematical Finance	18 months	$72,123 (includes fees)
44	Purdue University Krannert School of Management	Finance	10 months	In-state: $42,000; out-of-state: $48,500
45	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Business	Financial Engineering	15 Months	$55,500
45	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Business	Finance	15 Months	$53,244 (+ $6,090 in fees)
46	University of Florida Hough GSB	Finance	1 year	$16,982; out-of-state: $40,173
49	George Washington University School of Business	Finance	1 year (part-time: 24 months)	$77,280
50	Temple University Fox School of Business	Financial Engineering (also part-time)	10 or 22 months (part-time: 22 months)	$32,460
50	Temple University Fox School of Business	Financial Analysis and Risk Management	22 months (full-time); 3 years (part-time)	$46,526
50	Temple University Fox School of Business	Investment Management	10 or 22 months (full-time); 22 months (part-time)	$32,460
51	Northeastern University D’Amore-McKim School of Business	Finance (also part-time and online versions)	1 year (part-time: 21 months; online: 18 1/2 months)	$44,280
52	University of Texas-Dallas Jindal SOM	Finance	18 or 24 months	In-state: 18 months: $23,967; 24 months: $26,760; out-of-state: 18 months: $45,444; 24 months: $48,452
53	University of Arizona Eller College of Management	Finance (also part-time)	1 year (part-time: 16 months)	Full-time: In-state: $30,392; out-of-state: $48,714; Part-time: In-state: $35,343; out-of-state: $62,826
58	University of Alabama Manderson GSB	Finance	9 months	In-state: $10,170; out-of-state: $25,950 (plus $2,500 in total course fees)
59	Boston College Carroll SOM	Finance (also part-time)	1 year (part-time: avg. 20 months)	$46,500 (full-time)
60	SUNY Buffalo SOM	Finance	18 months	In-state: $16,305 (+ $1,687 in fees/year); out-of-state: $33,315 (+ $1,687 in fees/year)
Row:40 Cell:1	U.C. San Diego Rady SOM	Finance	1 year	$58,170
63	Tulane University Freeman School of Business	Finance	11 or 18 months	$56,100
66	University of Miami School of Business Administration	Finance (also online version)	10 months (online: 16 months)	$55,500 (online: $59,200)
68	Louisiana State Ourso College of Business	Finance	36 credit hours (duration depends on courseload per semester)	In-state: $12,463; out-of-state: $34,901
69	CUNY Baruch College Zicklin School of Business	Finance	1 1/2 years	In-state: $16,544; out-of-state: $27,797 (based on full-time for two terms, part-time for final term; tuition figures based on minimum 31.5 total credits)
69	CUNY Baruch College Zicklin School of Business	Financial Risk Management	1 1/2 years	In-state: $16,544; out-of-state: $27,797 (based on full-time for two terms, part-time for final term; tuition figures based on minimum 31.5 total credits)
70	University of Colorado Leeds School of Business	Finance	1 year	$35,446
72	Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead SOM	Finance	9 months	$49,980
73	University of Connecticut Storrs School of Business	Financial Risk Management	15-19 months (also part-time)	$41,778 (U.S. students); $45,576 (international students)
73	Rutgers Business School	Financial Analysis	1 year (two semesters; some students require summer courses)	In-state: $12,704/semester; out-of-state: $22,055/semester
73	Rutgers Business School	Quantitative Finance	2 years (3-6 semesters)	In-state: $38,111-$76,221; out-of-state: $58,070-$116,139
75	University of Utah Eccles School of Business	Finance	1 year	In-state: $26,400; out-of-state: $50,828
76	University of San Diego School of Business Administration	Finance	10 months	$44,160
77	University of Cincinnati Lindner College of Business	Finance	9 months	In-state: $20,958; out-of-state: $28,796
78	American University Kogod School of Business	Finance (also part-time)	2 years (approx.)	$50,358
81	Pepperdine University Graziadio Business School	Applied Finance	1 year	$69,600
82	Iowa State College of Business	Finance	3-4 semesters	In-state: $14,805-$19,740; out-of-state: $34,212-$45,616
85	Hult International Business School	Finance (Boston)	1 year	$41,300
88	Hofstra University Zarb School of Business	Finance	18 months	$36,540
88	Hofstra University Zarb School of Business	Quantitative Finance	18 months	$40,194
89	Syracuse University Whitman SOM	Finance	9, 16, or 21 months	$41,640
93	Auburn University Harbert College of Business	Finance (also online version)	1 year (online: 1-2 years)	(online: $24,150)
93	University of Tulsa Collins College of Business	Finance (also part-time)	1 1/2-2 years (part-time: 2-2 1/2 years)	$42,336
97	St. Louis University Cook School of Business	Applied Financial Economics	Row:25 Cell:4	Row:25 Cell:5
99	Fordham University Gabelli School of Business	Global Finance	12-16 months	$48,672
99	Fordham University Gabelli School of Business	Investor Relations	16 months	$52,728
99	Fordham University Gabelli School of Business	Quantitative Finance	12-20 months	$60,840
100	Rochester Institute of Technology Saunders College of Business	Computational Finance	17 months	$60,234
100	Rochester Institute of Technology Saunders College of Business	Finance	9-12 months	$40,158 – $50,196