Finance (MS)*

This program is offered by the George Herbert Walker School of Business and Technology. It is available online, at the St. Louis main campus, and at select U.S. and international campuses. Please see the Campus Locations and Offerings section of this catalog for a list of campuses where this program is offered.

Program Description

Learning Outcomes

• Students can determine the value of financial assets.
• Students can analyze the financial decisions of a corporation.
• Students can evaluate credit and interest rate risk.

Program Curriculum

The master of science in finance requires successful completion of 36 credit hours including 30 required credit hours and 6 credit hours of electives. The following courses are required for the master of science in finance:

Prerequisites

• BUSN 5600 Accounting Theory and Practice (3 hours)
• BUSN 5760 Applied Business Statistics (3 hours)

Note: Program prerequisites are to be completed before beginning coursework for the master of science in finance for those students who have not completed prerequisite courses (or an appropriate equivalent) within five years of entering the program and having earned a grade of B or better. If the appropriate prerequisite course content was completed longer than five years prior to entering the program, the department will allow a waiver if the student demonstrates a command of the content area by successfully completing a waiver examination. The prerequisite course BUSN 5600 may not count as an elective in the 36-credit-hour master of science in finance.

Dual Degree Option: MBA/MS in Finance

54 to 57 Credit Hours

Requirements for a dual degree with the MBA program generally include the required MBA courses (33 hours) and the required coursework in the additional degree program, except where noted below. If BUSN 5000 has been waived, the required hours are reduced by 3 credits and the BUSN 5000 course does not require a substitution.

Upon completion of all required credit hours, two separate diplomas are issued at the same time. The two degrees cannot be awarded separately or sequentially under this arrangement.

• BUSN 5000 Business (3 hours)
• MBA 5010 Value Creation (3 hours)
• MBA 5030 Market Analysis and Business Planning (3 hours)
• MBA 5100 Adding Value through Human Capital (3 hours)
• MBA 5300 Providing Value to Customers (3 hours)
• MBA 5400 The Supply Chain and Business Processes (3 hours)
• MBA 5500 Information Support for Decision Making (3 hours)
• MBA 5910 Cases in Value Creation (3 hours)
• MBA 5920 Walker Consulting Project: Adding Value to Organizations (3 hours)
• ACCT 6070 Managerial Accounting for Decision Making (3 hours)
• FINC 5000 Finance*^ (3 hours)
  (prerequisites: BUSN 5760* and BUSN 5600)
• FINC 5100 Financial Modeling (3 hours)
• FINC 5210 Investments (3 hours)
• FINC 5810 Capital Budgeting and Corporate Investments (3 hours)
• FINC 5830 Institutions and Financial Markets (3 hours)
• FINC 5840 International Finance (3 hours)
• FINC 5880 Advanced Corporate Finance (3 hours)
• FINC 5890 Financial Statement Analysis (3 hours) 
• FINC 6290 Mergers and Acquisitions (3 hours)

*FINC 5000 and BUSN 5760 substitute for MBA 5020.
^FINC 5000 and FINC 5810 substitute for MBA 5200.

Prerequisites

• BUSN 5600 Accounting Theory and Practice (3 hours)
• BUSN 5620 Current Economic Analysis (3 hours)
• BUSN 5760 Applied Business Statistics (3 hours)

Note: Program prerequisites are to be completed before beginning coursework for the master of science in finance for those students who have not completed prerequisite courses (or an appropriate equivalent) within five years of entering the program and having earned a grade of B or better. If the appropriate prerequisite course content was completed longer than five years prior to entering the program, the department will allow a waiver if the student demonstrates a command of the content area by successfully completing a waiver examination.

Admission

See the Admission section of this catalog for general admission requirements. Students interested in applying must submit their application online at www.webster.edu/apply. Transcripts should be sent from your institution electronically to transcripts@webster.edu. If this service is not available, send transcripts to:

Office of Admission
Webster University
470 E. Lockwood Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63119 

Additional Requirements

Applicants to the MS in finance must have completed a bachelor's degree or higher in a business discipline in a program accredited by ACBSP, AACSB, IACBE, EQUIS or AMBA. An applicant without such a degree wishing to enroll in this program will be required to first complete either BUSN 5000 with a grade of B- or better or the following undergraduate courses (or their equivalent) with a grade of C- or better (17 credit hours total, not including course prerequisites):

• MNGT 2100 Management Theory & Practices
• ACCT 2010 Financial Accounting
• BUSN 2750 Introduction to Statistics
• ECON 2000 Survey of Economics
• MNGT 2500 Marketing
• BUSN 3500 Business & Global Issues
• BUSN 4500 Ethical Issues in Business

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are admitted to their graduate program upon completion of all admission requirements. Students are advanced to candidacy status after successfully completing 12 credit hours with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. In specialized programs, courses required as prerequisites to the program do not count toward the 12 credit hours required for advancement.