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Finance Ph.D. Program

Overview

The University of North Texas G. Brint Ryan College of Business Ph.D. in Business Administration, specializing in Finance, focuses the College's Ph.D. experience to include teaching training and research training that is appropriate for the field of Finance. You can read more about the details of the College program in the Handbook. The application for admission can be downloaded from the Admission Information page.

Doctoral Program Coordinator
Dr. Takeshi Nishikawa
Room: BLB 336B
Phone: (940) 565-2511
Email: Takeshi.Nishikawa@unt.edu

Finance Ph.D. Courses

Finance Ph.D. students normally have 18 hours of Finance Ph.D. courses

  • FINA 6010 - Empirical Methods in Finance
  • FINA 6014 - Seminar in Investments, Modern Portfolio Theory and Capital Markets Research
  • FINA 6015 - Seminar in Financial Derivatives or FINA 6017 - Seminar in Financial Institutions and Markets
  • FINA 6016 - Seminar in Corporate Finance
  • FINA 6018 - Seminar in Econometric Methods Applied in Financial Markets Research
  • FINA 6100 - The Theory of Financial Decisions

The program is highly structured for all students

First Year
Fall
  • Econ 5640: Multivariate Regression Analysis
  • Econ 5600: Mathematical Economics
  • FINA 6100: Theory of Financial Decisions
  • MSCI 6750: Probability and Statistics
First Year
Spring
  • Econ 5650: Advanced Econometrics
  • Finance doctoral seminar
  • Finance doctoral seminar
  • MSCI 6010: Probability and Statistics
All students must take the econometrics exit exam in June.
Second Year
Fall
  • Finance doctoral seminar
  • Econ 5670: Applied Econometrics
  • Econ 5655: Econometric Analysis of Panel Data
Second Year
Spring
  • Econ 5660: Time Series Analysis and Forecasting
  • Finance doctoral seminar
  • Finance doctoral seminar
  • MSCI 6000: Non-parametric Statistics
All students must take the written qualifying exam in August.

At the end of the appropriate coursework, Finance Ph.D. students will take minor field comprehensive exams as well as written and oral Finance comprehensive exams prior to beginning dissertation work. We offer written Finance comprehensive examinations in August and February. Written exams last for eight hours per day for two days. The oral examination is normally scheduled 14-21 days after the written examination is administered. Students should be ready to defend a dissertation proposal as early as their sixth long semester in the program.

Finance Ph.D. students will gain experience in presenting research to their peers and will gain experience in our classrooms. College level seminars will require independent research and presentations to peers. In addition, we expect every funded (assistantship) student to gain teaching experience as a teaching fellow (TF) during the Ph.D. program. Students who receive an assistantship from the university normally start as a teaching assistant or research assistant and work in the finance tutor lab before teaching classes.

Prerequisites

  1. Students are expected to have an MBA-level knowledge in their specialty.
  2. Students applying for financial support (assistantship) must complete Calculus I and II prior to admission. Sponsored students may be permitted to complete these courses at UNT; however, this will add one year to the program.
  3. Admissions are based on a holistic process; no single factor is cause for acceptance or rejection. However, applicants should have reasonable verbal and quantitative test scores; strong letters of reference are also important; and an MBA or MS from a tier 1 research university also strengthens the application.
  4. Please keep in mind that the process is competitive and we limit the number of admissions to 2 or 3 students per year.