Master of Science in Finance Program Competencies and Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

1. Principles of Finance

Demonstrate a broad understanding of financial concepts and tools and their applications to business practice in global settings.

SLO 1.1: Use accounting information reported in a firm's financial statements to make and assess financial decisions.
SLO 1.2: Apply the core concepts of arbitrage, diversification, and efficiency to value financial and capital assets.
SLO 1.3: Apply the basic tools of finance to make critical decisions (such as capital allocation, capital structure and dividend policy, working capital management, and risk management) involved in creating value.
SLO 1.4: Explain the roles of financial institutions and markets in transferring wealth across time and states.

For faculty

Download these ready-to-go appendices to add to your syllabi as appropriate.

2. Problem Solving & Technical Skills

Apply financial concepts and tolls to both corporate finance and investment decisions in a global context.

SLO 2.1: Identify the information and assumptions needed to solve a financial problem.
SLO 2.2: Identify the appropriate analytical framework and techniques needed to make a financial decision.
SLO 2.3: Use quantitative tools to solve financial problems for various stakeholders, analyze the tradeoffs, risks, and the implications of alternative assumptions.

3. Ethical, Legal and Social Responsibility

Demonstrate an awareness of the ethical, legal, and social issues in financial contexts.

SLO 3.1: Identify and analyze the incentives facing participants in various financial contexts.
SLO 3.2: Identify ethical, legal and social issues within a finance setting.
SLO 3.3: Analyze how different contractual and financial arrangements mitigate or exacerbate these issues.

4. Communication

Effectively communicate financial information, data, and results and work productively in teams.

SLO 4.1: Communicate financial data, analysis, statistics, results and conclusions persuasively and cogently in both written and oral form, including presentations.
SLO 4.2: Recognize cognitive errors in individual and group decision-making and how they influence financial decisions.
SLO 4.3: Work effectively with others in teams on projects of varying complexity.

Vers. 1, rev. April 2020