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Eller College Home > Department of Finance > Doctoral Program > Curriculum > Second Year
Finance

Second Year Curriculum

Details of Stages in
Ph.D.-Finance Degree Program

The following is an outline of the coursework students can expect to complete during the second year of the Finance Ph.D. program. The coursework is subject to change due to the availability of classes. The Typical Course Sequence provides a sample schedule for the full four-year program.

For details of the second year curriculum in our
Ph.D.-Finance degree program, please scroll down or link below:

Coursework

During the second year of the program, courses tend to be more specialized and are designed to introduce students to a number of different areas in which they potentially could do research. In the second year, courses could include:

  • Economics 522B, Econometrics II. The second course in the econometrics sequence studying the theory of econometric estimation of single and simultaneous equation models.
  • Finance 602, Dynamic Assets Pricing.  Financial models and empirical tests: asset pricing models, financial behavior; corporate financial decisions.
  • Finance 620B, Finance Markets and Corporate Finance. Financial models and empirical tests: asset pricing models, financial behavior; corporate financial decisions.
  • Finance 695A, Investments. The exchange of scholarly information and/or secondary research, usually in a small group setting. Instruction often includes lectures by several different persons. Research projects may or may not be required of course registrants.
  • Finance 696E, Corporate Finance. The development and exchange of scholarly information related to corporate finance , usually in a small group setting. The scope of work shall consist of research by course registrants, with the exchange of the results of such research through discussion, reports, and/or papers.
Other courses could include:
  • Finance 541A, Fixed Income. This is the first semester of a two-semester course designed to introduce students to fixed income models and analysis.
  • Finance 697A, Research Issues. A course designed for the practical application of theoretical learning within a group setting and involving an exchange of ideas and practical methods, skills, and principles.
  • Economics 697B, Applied Economic Analysis. The practical application of theoretical learning within a group setting and involving an exchange of ideas and practical methods, skills, and principles.
  • Economics 696E, Econometric Models. The development and exchange of scholarly information, usually in a small group setting.
  • Economics 696Q, Industrial Organization and Regulation II. The development and exchange of scholarly information, usually in a small group setting.
  • Finance 601, Financial Decision Making Under Uncertainty. Theoretical and applied financial economics relating to uncertainty in markets, information, and choice.
  • Finance 696G, Financial Theory. The development and exchange of scholarly information, usually in a small group setting.
  • Math 523A, Real Analysis. Lebésgue measure and integration, differentiation, Radon-Nikodym theorem, Lp spaces, applications.
  • Available Economics, Finance or Accounting seminars (695, 696 and 697 courses).

    NOTE: FIN697A, Research Issues, may be taken no more than four times for credit towards the required unit hours for a Ph.D. degree.

Second Year Paper 

In addition to completing their coursework and qualifying examinations, all students must submit a second-year paper in order to continue in the program. The paper will be due prior to the winter break of their second year. This provides students several months to focus on preparing for the finance qualifying exam. As part of the paper, students are expected to have a literature review completed and hypotheses approved prior to taking the microeconomics qualifier, and they would then have several months after the qualifier to do the empirics.

Summer Funding

Additional summer funding may be available to Ph.D. students and, if available, will be awarded on a competitive basis. Funding will be based on performance in the program, including grades, faculty evaluations, and a quality research proposal. Research proposals should be submitted by April 15 and should include a literature review and testable hypotheses. In addition, the project must be feasible in that any data needed is readily available.

For first and second year students, heavier emphasis will be on grades (Bs get you less than As, with more emphasis on finance classes than economics classes). For advanced students, emphasis will be on research progress. Half of the funding will be awarded upon receiving the award. The second half will be awarded based on satisfactory completion of a presentation on the results of the research to the faculty.

Since the purpose of this funding is to encourage students to initiate and develop independent research, priority will be given to proposals that are NOT co-authored with faculty. In addition, grants will not be given for work that has received a grant in the past.

Plan of Study

"In conjunction with his/her major professor or advisor, each student is responsible for developing a Plan of Study during their first year in residence, to be filed with the Graduate College no later than the student's third semester in residence.

"The Plan of Study identifies (1) courses the student intends to transfer from other institutions; (2) courses already completed at The University of Arizona which the student intends to apply toward the graduate degree; and (3) additional course work to be completed in order to fulfill degree requirements. The Plan of Study must have the approval of the student's major professor and department head (or Director of Graduate Studies) before it is submitted to the Graduate College."

(For more information, read the UA Graduate College catalog at: http://grad.arizona.edu/academics/degree-certification/dpos.)

To access the Doctoral Plan of Study form, link to the Graduate College forms after logging in with a student UA Net ID. Note that dissertation hours are not included on the form as coursework. Hints for completing the form are also available.

Comprehensive Written Examination

In the beginning of the summer following the second year (usually in early June, shortly after classes end), students will take the comprehensive written examination covering the entire field of finance. Students are expected to be able to answer questions from all areas of finance, although the emphasis will be on topics discussed in the finance courses the students have taken during the first two years of the program and department seminars the students have attended during the same time.

Students who do not pass the comprehensive examination may, at the discretion of the faculty, be given a second chance to pass the exam prior to the start of the following fall semester, be awarded an MS degree if they have satisfied the Master's requirements, and/or be dismissed from the Ph.D. program.

Master of Science

It is department policy that a student who successfully passes the finance comprehensive written examination at the first sitting may elect to be awarded a Master's of Science in Management with a concentration in Finance (MMF) degree. (This does not apply to students who have already earned an MMF degree from UA.)

Once notified of passing the comprehensive examination, a student who requests that he or she be awarded a MMF degree must register for one unit of study during the summer in order to receive the MS degree. The Graduate College requires that the student submit both a completed and signed Master's Plan of Study and a Completion of Degree Requirements form. Once both forms are signed by the student, they can be delivered to the Finance Department Program Coordinator for processing. Faculty signatures will be obtained and the documents sent to The University of Arizona Graduate College Degree Certification Office.

If a student does not pass the finance comprehensive written examination at the first sitting, the Finance Department Head and/or Ph.D. Faculty Advisor may elect to offer an alternative course of action to the student to earn an MMF degree.

For additional information, please contact us.

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