Welcome to the
Oklahoma State University Master of Science in Quantitative Financial Economics
website.
We are glad you have taken the time to visit us and think you will find
our Master's program provides unique value enhancing opportunities. The Master
of Science in Quantitative Financial Economics (MSQFE) offers an
interdisciplinary course of study in Finance, Economics, Mathematics, and
Statistics. The program's coursework and learning opportunities are designed to
prepare students for exciting career opportunities in the field of Quantitative
Financial Economics.
While our program is relatively new, our faculty are
renowned in their fields of expertise and our campus facilities provide a unique
learning environment. Please explore our website to find what we have to
offer.
Program Mission Statement: Preparing students for successful professional careers in quantitative financial occupations is the mission of the Masters of Science in Quantitative Financial Economics Program. The MSQFE Program is a unique interdisciplinary environment recognized externally for the quality of our graduates and curriculum.
Program Objectives: The goal of the MSQFE Program is to offer a “finishing school” to two distinct streams of students. For each stream the Program offers access to the applications of quantitative finance. Quantitative Finance includes the activities necessary to value financial assets and derivatives, manage price, credit and operational risks, evaluate and select appropriate investment strategies, examine complex issues requiring data analysis, model estimation and strategy formation. Students entering the Program from engineering, physics, mathematics and statistics have highly developed analytical abilities and seek to gain insight into the financial applications of these skills. Students entering the Program from business and economics backgrounds tend to have a better understanding of the context of financial applications, yet seek additional refinement of their analytical abilities. The Program’s curriculum is sufficiently flexible to meet the needs of both streams.
Program Clientele: Students enrolled in the MSQFE Program on the Stillwater and OSU-Tulsa campus come from diverse backgrounds. The Program offers access to quantitative financial applications for those from the analytical disciplines; engineering, mathematics, physics and offers opportunities to improve analytical abilities for those coming from business and economics. Students enrolled in the MSQFE Program have varied levels of academic achievement. Some enter having already completed a graduate degree; others enter having completed only bachelors’ degrees. Students also have varying degrees of work experience; some enter the program directly after earning their preceding degree, while others join the Program from the workplace.
The MSQFE Program develops skills and knowledge in the discipline of quantitative financial applications through interdisciplinary coursework in Finance, Economics, Mathematics and Statistics. The Program consists of 33 hours of coursework beyond a
bachelor’s degree and usually requires four academic semesters to complete. The 2 Departments of Agricultural Economics, Economics, Finance, Mathematics and Statistics provide required coursework for the Program.
The Program admitted the first class of students in Fall of 2001 and now has 37 alumni. A sample of the positions held by MSQFE alumni:
| Bank of Oklahoma |
Fixed Income Portfolio Manager |
Deloitte and Touche, NY
|
Equity Risk Management Services |
The South Financial Group, SC
|
Quantitative Portfolio Analyst |
Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines
|
Mortgage Risk Analyst |
Tractabel, MA
|
Transaction Risk Analyst |
Oklahoma State Univ.
|
Phd. Finance |
Risk Metrics, OK
|
Model Development |
Dominion, VA
|
Trading Group |
Citigroup, NY
|
Fixed Income Support |
Koch Industries, TX
|
Trading Group |
| Oklahoma Gas and Electric, OK |
Corporate Finance |
| CITGO, TX |
Market Analyst |
| Williams Companies, OK |
Risk Analytics Group |
The MSQFE Program Committee has maintained consistent admission standards seeking to admit a cohort of students with average graduate entrance exams scores in the top twenty five-percent of all exam takers.
Spring 2007 the MSQFE Program has enrollment of 21 students; 6 second year MSQFE
students that will graduate in May/August 2007 and 15 first year students.
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Highest degree attained prior to MSQFE
admission
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Country of origin
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Bachelors
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Masters
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Doctorate
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Domestic
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International
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| Fall 2006 |
12
|
7
|
2
|
9
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12
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Selected Comments from the 2006 MSQFE Alumni Survey:
“My experience was worthwhile … plenty of challenging courses to choose from let me pick up quantitative skills that will be useful in my career.”
“The quantitative skills in various areas that I gained from the MSQFE Program gave me the ability to solve problems in a more efficient way. … Thou our credit portfolios do not include derivatives, knowledge of derivative instruments enables me to do further research in applying derivative instruments to our risk control function.”
“The MSQFE Program provided me with a great educational experience. …. Most important to me were the people I got to interact with on a daily basis. I formed great relationships that I value today and will far into the future.”
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Masters Programs 
