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MS Finance (MSF)

MS FINANCE

  • A smiling graduate student from USC Marshall on campus.
    Active Learning + Applied Skills

    Launch Your Finance Career in Just 16 Months

    The USC Marshall Master of Science in Finance (MSF) is designed to prepare you for the opportunities and challenges of modern finance. In just 16 months, you’ll gain rigorous technical expertise, real-world experience, and access to one of the most powerful alumni networks in the world.

    Our STEM-designated program gives you the skills and connections to succeed in investment banking, asset management, fintech, venture capital, and beyond.

Who Is a Good Fit for This Program?

  • Analytically motivated early- or mid-career professionals seeking accelerated, hands-on finance education.

  • International students seeking STEM-based flexibility and extended OPT eligibility for U.S. opportunities.

  • Those looking to customize their trajectory, whether you're drawn to traditional finance roles or niche sectors like fintech, real estate, or media finance.

What You'll Learn & Experience

  • Three students in a breakout room at USC Marshall.

    Intensive, Applied Learning

    From day one, immerse yourself in real finance through case studies, simulations, investment fund management, and experiential coursework.

  • Strong Technical Foundation

    Strong Technical Foundation

    Coursework emphasizes valuation, security analysis, portfolio management, and risk modeling ensuring you’re equipped for today’s fast-evolving finance world.

  • USC Marshall graduate student smiling on campus.

    Dynamic Student Life

    Engage with the Marshall Masters in Finance Association (MMFA) for exclusive mentorship, networking panels, socials, and resources that enhance your professional and personal growth.

MSF AT A GLANCE

  • Ranked #1 in the U.S.

    Financial Times (2023 & 2024)

  • STEM-designated Program

  • 16-Month Program

Why Choose the MS Finance Program?

  • A female-presenting student from USC Marshall.

    Customize Your Academic Journey

    After core coursework, choose from a wide range of electives including data science, strategy, hedge fund investing, real estate finance, and more. Collaborate alongside students in Marshall’s MBA and other masters programs for a richer learning experience.

  • Two USC Marshall students flashing the 'Fight On!' sign.

    Unparalleled Networking Through the Trojan Family

    You’ll join a global alumni community of 400,000+ strong connections across industries like media & entertainment, tech, life sciences, and finance.

  • Downtown Los Angeles at sunset.

    Convenient Los Angeles Location

    The program taps into LA’s dynamic ecosystem spanning finance, entertainment, tech, and healthcare offering diverse opportunities for internships and post-graduate careers.

Career Outcomes + Support

  • A Master's in Finance Opens Doors

    Investment Banking & Advisory, Asset & Wealth Management, Corporate Finance, Private Equity & Financial Data Analytics, Real Estate Finance & Investment

  • Top Employers

    AllianceBernstein, Bain & Co., BCG, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Guggenheim Partners, McKinsey & Company, PayPal, PIMCO, Raymond James, Tesla, Wells Fargo, Houlihan Lokey, JPMorgan Chase

CURRICULUM

The MSF curriculum is designed to be completed in 16 months over three terms (Fall, Spring, Fall), providing students with a comprehensive and flexible finance education. The 36-unit curriculum includes 19.5 units of core coursework and 16.5 units of electives, combining foundational finance principles with opportunities to tailor the program to individual interests and career goals. Students also have the summer term between academic years to pursue finance internships, gain hands-on industry experience, and apply their classroom learning in a professional setting.


Required Core Courses (19.5 units)

Throughout the program, students build a strong foundation in finance, economics, and accounting while developing expertise in investment analysis, portfolio management, financial analysis, and valuation. Core courses foster a close-knit cohort, helping students build lasting professional relationships and a strong finance network.

  • FBE 506: Quantitative Methods in Finance

    Units 3

    Fall Term 1

    The development of single and bivariate mathematical and statistical methods used in modern finance and economics and applications of these methods.

  • GSBA 510: Accounting Concepts and Financial Reporting

    Units 3

    Fall Term 1

    Information systems for public reporting and for management decision-making; theory of asset and income measurement; interpretation and uses of accounting data and financial statements; analysis of cases.

  • GSBA 511: Microeconomics for Management

    Units 3

    Fall Term 1

    Microeconomic theory with business applications; consumer demand, production theory, cost theory and market theory; decision making within the firm under different market and regulatory environments.

  • GSBA 542: Communication for Management

    Units 1.5

    Fall Term 1

    Internal and external communication, research methods, reports for decision-making, oral presentations and briefing, strategies to assure communication; field studies.

  • GSBA 548: Corporate Finance

    Units 3

    Fall Term 1

    Modern theory of corporate investment and financing decisions.

  • FBE 529: Financial Analysis and Valuation

    Units 3

    Spring Term 2

    An applications-oriented course to develop the financial and accounting tools required to do financial planning valuation and assessment of financial performance.

  • FBE 555: Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management

    Units 3

    Spring Term 2

    Analysis and management of common stocks and fixed income securities; development of modern portfolio theory and the efficient market hypothesis; organization of securities markets.

Challenge exams are available for the following core courses: GSBA 510, GSBA 511, and GSBA 548.

Students who pass a challenge exam may waive the corresponding core course, reducing the total program requirement from 36 to 33 units and decreasing the Fall Term 1 course load from 13.5 to 10.5 units. Any additional approved course waivers must be replaced with elective coursework to maintain a minimum of 33 units.

Elective Course Offerings (16.5 units)

Students can personalize their academic experience by selecting from a broad range of electives, including data science, strategy, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and private equity, hedge fund investing, fixed income securities, real estate finance, and more. Elective courses bring together students from Marshall's MBA and other graduate programs, creating opportunities to collaborate across disciplines, broaden perspectives, and expand professional networks.

MS FINANCE FACULTY

  • Julia Gardner Plotts

    Julia Gardner Plotts
    • Academic Director for the Master of Science in Finance Program
    • Peter J. Fluor Family Chair in Teaching Excellence
    • Professor of Clinical Finance and Business Economics

    Julia Plotts specializes in financial analysis and valuation, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate finance. She has received numerous teaching awards including the Golden Apple Award for Teaching Excellence (15 times). Before joining USC, she worked in the investment-banking group of Banc of America Securities, where she was involved in the execution of M&A and capital raising via private/public offerings of equity and debt. She has consulted on shareholder value creation for a variety of firms.

  • Anthony Michael Marino

    Anthony Michael Marino
    • Professor of Finance and Business Economics

    Tony Marino is an economist who specializes in organizational economics and the economics of regulation. He has published articles on dynamic macroeconomics, public utility regulation, conservation, product liability, safety regulation, managerial contracting, and organizational theory, in the Review of Economic Studies, Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, RAND Journal of Economics, and Review of Financial Studies. Professor Marino served as Chair of the Department of Finance and Business Economics from 1997 to 2000 and from 2011 to 2017. Before joining USC, he was a faculty member at the University of Kansas, and he has held visiting appointments at UC-Santa Barbara and Gothenburg University.

  • Suh-Pyng Ku

    Suh-Pyng Ku
    • Professor of Clinical Finance and Business Economics
    • Director of the Center for Investment Studies

    Suh-Pyng Ku is a professor of clinical finance & business economics at USC Marshall School of Business. Her teaching and research specialties include corporate finance, portfolio management, and security valuation. She teaches corporate finance and applied investment management courses in the MBA program. In addition, she serves as the director of the USC Marshall Center for Investment Studies. Previously, Professor Ku served as Marshall's vice dean for graduate programs and USC's vice provost and executive director of continuing education and summer programs. Prior to that, she served as USC's chief technology officer for enhanced learning, associate dean for the Marshall MBA program and Marshall's chief information officer. She is the 2014 Golden Apple Teaching Award Winner for the Full-Time MBA Core Program and a 2014 Steven B. Sample Teaching and Mentoring Award Nominee, USC Office for Parent Programs. Professor Ku received her Ph.D. degree in Finance from USC.

  • Gerard Hoberg

    Gerard Hoberg
    • Director of The Institute for Outlier Research in Business (iORB)
    • Charles E. Cook Community Bank Chair of Finance
    • Professor of Finance and Business Economics

    Gerard Hoberg's research is primarily in the area of empirical corporate finance with a focus on innovation, mergers, IPOs, disclosure, informational environments, industrial organization, and empirical asset pricing. He is also known for methodological contributions that bring technologies from computational linguistics into finance.

  • Scott Joslin

    Scott Joslin
    • Associate Professor of Finance and Business Economics

    Scott Joslin is a financial economist whose research focuses on capital markets, in particular, the study of bond and options markets and their interaction with the macroeconomy. His research involves sophisticated econometric and statistical techniques, and development of methods to solve computationally difficult problems. Professor Joslin's work has been published in journals that include American Economic Review and Review of Financial Studies. Prior to joining USC, he was on the faculty of MIT's Sloan School of Management.

  • Shane Shepherd

    Shane Shepherd
    • Assistant Professor of Clinical, Finance and Business Economics

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    University of Southern California
    Marshall School of Business
    Popovich Hall, Suite 308
    Los Angeles, CA 90089-2633

    Phone: 213-740-7846

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