The School of Business

Master of Science in Finance

Blending theory and application, financial tools and critical soft skills, the Master of Science in Finance is designed to advance your career in corporate finance and investments.

You can complete the master of finance in one year as a full-time student or two years as a part-time student. You’ll gain tangible technical expertise and hands-on application for a long-term career in finance. PSU’s master of finance requires the student to complete 49 credits, four of which are electives students can use to customize their program experience.

  • Full Time: 12 months
  • Part Time: 24 months

Visit the Bulletin for course details.

Orientation

Orientation takes place in September before the start of Fall term (time and date will be announced). 

Attendance: Required for all MSF candidates.

MSF CORE COURSES (29 CREDITS)

  • Managerial Finance: FIN 551
  • Valuation Modeling: FIN 553
  • Applied Financial Decisions: FIN 565
  • Investments: FIN 552
  • Financial Institutions: FIN 531
  • Emerging Topics in FinTech: FIN 578
  • Managerial Analytics: BTA 519
  • Advanced Financial Reporting: ACTG 550
  • Financial Statement Analysis: ACTG 553
  • Foundations of Strategy: MGMT 511
  • Communications for Leaders: BA 522

Electives (16 CREDITS)

Corporate Finance and Investing

  • Student Managed Stock Fund: FIN 573
  • Impact Investing: FIN 575
  • Quantitative Finance Methods: FIN 555
  • Derivatives/Financial Market Securities: FIN 577
  • Alliances and Acquisitions: MGMT 533
  • Intro to Machine Learning: GSCM 575
  • Integrated Strategy: MGMT 514
  • Case Competition: FIN 579
  • Internships to CO-OPs: FIN 504

Enterprise Analytics (Launching Fall 2023)

Choose individual course or add the entire certificate.

  • Business Data Management with SQL: BTA 511 (online)
  • Business Data Analytics with Python: BTA 512 (online)
  • Global Information Systems & Data Analytics: GSCM 521 (online)
  • Enterprise Data Visualization for Decision Making: BTA 553 (online)

Real Estate Investment and Finance

Choose individual courses or add the entire certificate.

MSF Program Prerequisites

  • Intro to Financial Accounting: BA 211 or equivalent (4)
  • Intro to Managerial Accounting: BA 213 or equivalent (4)
  • Intro to Statistics: STAT 241 or STAT 243 or equivalent (4)

Prerequisites may be taken at Portland State or another college/university and must be completed before starting the MSF program.

Orientation

Orientation is an important part of the MSF experience and is required for all students. Orientation is held in-person in the Karl Miller Center on the PSU campus.

Courses are usually scheduled Monday through Friday and meet once per week at 5:30 p.m. for both full time and part-time students. Weekends are typically off.

Full-time students can expect to be on campus four times per week; for part-time students, it will be once or twice each week during most terms.

Sample Full-Time Schedule

TermCourses
Fall
  • Managerial Finance: FIN 551 (4)
  • Advanced Financial Reporting: ACTG 550 (4)
  • Foundations of Strategy: MGMT 511 (2)
  • Communication for Leaders: BA 522 (1)
  • Electives (2 credits, see Curriculum page)
Winter
  • Financial Statement Analysis: ACTG 553 (4)
  • Investments: FIN 552 (4)
  • Financial Institutions: FIN 531 (2)
  • Valuation Modeling: FIN 553 (2)
  • Electives (2 credits, see Curriculum page)
Spring
  • Managerial Analytics: BTA 519 (2)
  • Electives (8 credits, see Curriculum page)
Summer
  • Applied Financial Decisions: FIN 565 (4)
  • Emerging Topics: FinTech: FIN 578 (2)
  • Electives (4 credits, see Curriculum page)

Sample Part-Time Schedule

Year 1Courses
Fall
  • Managerial Finance: FIN 551 (4)
  • Advanced Financial Reporting: ACTG 550 (4)
  • Communications for Leaders: BA 522 (1)
Winter
  • Financial Statement Analysis: ACTG 553 (4)
  • Valuation Modeling: FIN 552 (4)
Spring
  • Managerial Analytics: BTA 519 (2)
  • Electives (4 credits, see Curriculum page)
Summer
  • Applied Financial Decisions: FIN 565 (4)
  • Emerging Topics: FinTech: FIN 578 (2)
Year 2Courses
Fall
  • Foundations of Strategy: MGMT 511 (2)
  • Electives (4 credits, see Curriculum page)
Winter
  • Investments: FIN 552 (4)
  • Financial Institutions: FIN 531 (2)
  • Electives (2 credits, see Curriculum page)
Spring
  • Electives (2 credits, see Curriculum page)
Summer
  • Electives (2 credits, see Curriculum page)

Note: Part-time students can complete the MSF program in as little as 18 months based on elective choices. 

Learn More About the Master of Science in Finance