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Finance is one of seven majors offered through FSU’s College of Business’ Ph.D. in Business Administration. The major admits two or three candidates each fall, and the program takes five years to complete.
- Emphasizes investments, corporate finance, financial institutions and markets
- Includes primary seminars in corporate finance, investments, financial theory
- Encourages support area courses in econometrics
- Includes research courses in statistics, econometrics, mathematical economics and financial mathematics; comprehensive exams and dissertation
Application Deadlines
- January 15 – Priority deadline (application review begins and will continue until positions are filled)
- March 1 – Application submission deadline. All supporting materials must be received by March 15.
For More Information
- Contact Dr. David Peterson, program director, for more information on the Finance major, its content and curriculum
- Contact Gail Palo, Ph.D. academic adviser, for more information about the admissions process
- Learn more about the Finance faculty and doctoral students.
Recent Student Accomplishments
Placements: Bentley University; California State University – Fullerton; Hofstra University; Ohio University; Stetson University; University of Texas – San Antonio; University of South Alabama; Xavier University; University of Missouri – Kansas City; Cornerstone Research; University of South Florida; University of New Hampshire
Awards:
- Kelly Bergsma, 2013-14 Outstanding Teaching Assistant; selected to attend the 2013 Yale Summer School in Behavioral Finance, 2014 AFA travel award; selected to present dissertation essay at the 2014 Financial Management Association Europe Doctoral Student Consortium
- Inger Daniels, 2014 FSU McKnight Doctoral Fellowship
- Yuting Meng, 2015 AFA travel award
- Kelsey Syvrud, prestigious fifth year of College of Business doctoral funding for further research; selected for summer 2014 International Finance Program at George Washington University
Defended dissertations:
- "Cultural Holidays and Equity Returns", by Kelley M. Bergsma; Dr. Danling Jiang, major professor
- "Two Essays on Asset Pricing" by Karen E. Sherrill; Dr. David Peterson, major professor
- "Two Essays on the Internationalization of Investors Bases" by Kelsey Lynne Syvrud; Dr. April Knill, major professor
- "An Examination of Cost-Minimization Strategies in Seasoned Equity Offerings” by Timothy A. Jones; Dr. C.F. Sirmans, major professor
- “Investor Psychology and Return Seasonalities in the Cross Section” by Yuting M. Digiovanni; Dr. Danling Jiang, major professor
- “Two Essays on Cash Holdings: The Compensation Benefits of Corporate Cash Holdings and the Impact of Cash Holdings Volatility on Firm Value” by Stephan Douglas Shipe; Dr. Yingmei Cheng, major professor
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DEGREE AND MAJOR REQUIREMENTS
Prerequisites
All Finance doctoral students must complete graduate level courses in Investments, Econometrics, and Statistics, and undergraduate level courses in Calculus I, Calculus II, Linear Algebra, and Mathematical Economics. The Finance doctoral adviser and the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs must approve course selections to meet the above requirements.
Major Requirements
All Finance doctoral students must complete courses in three areas: Tools for Analytical Research (TAR), Primary Finance and Support.
I. Tools for Analytical Research (TAR) Area
Students typically take a selection of analytical-tool courses that provide the tools and skills necessary to understand and conduct research in finance.
Students must take the following three TAR courses:
- ECO 5403 Static Optimization
- ECO 5416 Econometrics I
- ECO 5423 Econometric Theory
Plus two additional quantitative courses in Statistics, or Economics numbered 5000 and above with the approval of the primary area adviser.
II. Primary Finance Coursework
The primary area courses and seminars provide opportunities for in-depth study. In addition to the Economics requirement in the TAR area, Finance students are required to take graduate courses in micro- or macro-economics. The selection of these courses is subject to the approval of the primary area adviser.
The doctoral primary area in Finance covers the foundations and theories of finance. Finance students must take the following doctoral seminars and courses:
- FIN 6449 - Doctoral Seminar in Corporate Finance
- FIN 6527 - Doctoral Seminar in Investments - Finance and Investments
- FIN 6804 - Foundations of Financial Theory I
- FIN 5935 - Foundations of Financial Theory II
- FIN 6842 - Empirical Research in Finance
- FIN TBD - Supervised Research/Directed Individual Study in Finance (number of courses and topics vary)
- TBD - One elective approved by the doctoral adviser
The requirement for an elective course, chosen in consultation with the Finance program director, is designed to allow some minimum specialization by students. As some examples, this course could be a multinational finance course, a financial institutions course, an economics course or an additional quantitative course. In addition to these regularly scheduled seminars, the Finance Workshop meets periodically to share the results of recent research conducted by FSU faculty and doctoral students and by invited scholars from other universities. Finance Doctoral students are required to attend the Finance Workshop seminars.
In addition to these courses, first- and second-year students will participate in a professional development series that will be an additional registered course in each semester of the first two years of the program. The development series is designed to introduce doctoral students to the roles and responsibilities of faculty members, including research ethics, communication with faculty at other universities, the research review process, balancing research, teaching and service, among other topics.
There is also a requirement that each student complete a research paper. This paper is based on independent research by the student, primarily during the second year of the program, and under the supervision of two faculty members. The research project is undertaken in the student’s area of interest to facilitate development toward his/her dissertation. The project culminates with the student presenting the research results to the finance faculty. Students must complete their research paper prior to taking the finance preliminary examination.
III. Support Area Coursework
Finance doctoral students typically choose a Support Area in econometrics. Normally, four courses are required in the Support Area. In addition, at least two of the courses required in the Support Area cannot be used to satisfy other requirements.
Suggested Course Sequence for Finance Doctoral Students
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FALL
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SPRING
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SUMMER
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Year 1
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- FIN 6804 Foundations of Financial Theory I
- ECO 5416 Econometrics I
- ECO 5403 Static Optimization (microeconomics)
- GEB 6931 Professional Development
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- FIN 5935 Foundations of Financial Theory II
- ECO 5423 Econometric Theory
- FIN 6842 Research Methods in Finance
- GEB 6931 Professional Development
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- ECO 5427 Limited Dependent Variable Models
- STA 5207 Applied Regression Methods OR STA 5440 Intro to Probability I
- FIN 6946 Supervised Teaching
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Year 2
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- FIN 6527 Investments Seminar
- STA 5207 or STA 5440
- GEB 6931 Professional Development
- Elective or DIS
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- FIN 6449 Corporate Seminar
- ECO 5428 Time Series
- GEB 6931 Professional Development
- Supervised Readings for Comp Exams
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- Comprehensive exam – June
- Dissertation
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Year 3
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Year 4
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Year 5
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