Become a pioneer of finance in an array of industries and organizations, from corporate titans to the public sector to commercial banking.
A Master of Science in Finance (MSF) degree from Purdue University will open doors of opportunities by helping you stand out from the crowd. The Daniels School provides its students with opportunities to forge global relationships, carve unique career trajectories and transform a quantitative education into the ability to drive results.
Our MSF program emphasizes practical application and experiential learning by providing access to the brightest minds in finance, complementing classroom studies. The rigorous, interactive and updated curriculum is designed to encourage individual career growth and complement professional aspirations in the areas of corporate finance, investment management, security analysis and brokerage, commercial and retail banking, and financial management of commercial and nonprofit organizations.
Professional Development & Networking
Our students' career goals and aspirations are in the forefront of everything we do. Professional development begins on day one. In addition to the analytical skills taught in the classroom, MSF students are learning communication, leadership, and professionalism skills through a variety of experiential engagements.
Career Services Center
The Daniels School's career services center is the ultimate resource for job-seeking students in management and related fields. The center’s mission is to cultivate skills and strategies that support students' professional growth by developing personalized career planning frameworks, providing campus and corporate research tools, and identifying areas for bolstering leadership, networking and functional skill sets.
Alumni Mentoring
In 2022 the business school boasted over 1,000 alumni-student connections. Our dedicated External Relations and Alumni Engagement team works hard to strengthen the relationship with the school’s more than 40,000 alumni network — within the larger 600,000+ Purdue University alumni network.
MSF students can cultivate relationships with alumni in various ways including through case competitions, classroom visits, experiential learning projects, mentoring, and events such as the Executive Forum, Homecoming tailgate, and more.
Purdue Finance Workshop
The Purdue Finance Workshop (PFW) was developed in 2014 by finance alums living and working in Manhattan. The focus of the group is to increase Purdue’s brand on Wall Street, cultivating opportunities to prepare Daniels School finance graduates to be successful in the field of banking and investments.
Throughout the year PFW hosts comprehensive workshops about careers in finance, soft skill refinement, technical training, industry trends, and more. Additionally, PFW is committed to creating casual and formal networking opportunities with area organizations.
Corporate Networking Visits
Each semester the MSF program team organizes a trip to a major metropolitan area with the goal of exposing students to the various concentrations within the field of finance and connecting them to industry leaders through corporate office visits. Past cohorts have traveled to Chicago, Indianapolis, and New York City to visit organizations like Morgan Stanley. The team hopes to incorporate visits to San Fransico and other western cities in future trips.
“Our trip to NYC was a particular highlight for me. I got the opportunity to meet professionals in the industry I want to pursue as a career. I gained valuable insights into how to network within the industry to better position myself to join the industry.”
Ryan Farhab, MSF ‘23
Download the Industry Overview to explore the growing field of finance including job titles on the rise, salary expectations, and in-demand skills.
Case Competitions
CFA Research Challenge
Many of our students have participated in the annual CFA Institute Research Challenge. Participants are tested in analytical, valuation, report writing, and presentation skills. Through this challenge, participants gain real-world experience assuming the role of a research analyst.
Not only is this competition a great opportunity for intensive training but also for mentoring and networking. The CFA Institute is a leading organization for investment management professionals with a goal of advancing ethics, market integrity, and professional standards of practice, which collectively contributes value to society.
Our program faculty are engaged with the CFA Society Indianapolis, a local chapter of the national organization bringing together the Indianapolis investment community.
Business School Case Competitions
Students are encouraged to participate in any case competition hosted by the business school. The Communication Center is your resource for upcoming opportunities.
Participate in a Case Competition
Student Managed Investment Fund
The Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) is a student organization that allows Purdue students the chance to invest real money in the stock market. The club manages approximately $400,000 with an investment policy of capital preservation and value investing.
Students in SMIF are assigned to smaller, industry-specific teams. Each team is expected to present and discuss their investment recommendations at the monthly club meetings.
The club as a whole will vote on the teams’ investment decisions, and the industry teams are expected to present and discuss their recommendations at monthly club meetings.
SMIF is open to graduate and undergraduate students in the Daniels School and across campus. Active members of the club in the fall and spring semesters can earn course credit in the spring for their membership in SMIF (a pass/fail course of 1 or 2 credit hours).
“SMIF gives me the opportunity to work alongside faculty and alumni to enable my career in asset management, investment research, and equity research. We all work together to create biweekly reports and evaluate companies.”
Sanskruti Nainutia, MSF ‘23
Download the MSF plan of study to get an idea of the available tracks and core and elective course options.
Student Managed Venture Fund
The Student Managed Venture Fund (SMVF) is an experiential learning course and student organization teaching the nuances of venture investing through interaction with firms and investors engaged in venture capital with the opportunity to co-invest with the partner.
Teams of students are responsible for performing due diligence on potential, real investment opportunities and for presenting their recommendations to a panel of experts.
The experience consists of three phases: investor interviews, the shallow dive, and the deep dive.
Investor Interviews
Students read Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson's book Venture Deals and conduct interviews with 10-12 early-stage investors. In these interviews, students learn directly from practitioners about their chosen focus area, ideal flow sourcing, screening and selection, approach to term sheets, investment vehicles, portfolio management, and exit strategies.
Shallow Dive
Every week, each 3-4 person student team reviews five pitch decks from companies actively seeking funding. At the end of the week, the team presents their rationale for selecting the two companies they assess to be most attractive. The presentations are made to the instructors and partners.
Deep Dive
Students select two companies from the shallow dive for a full due diligence. If there is sufficient confidence in the company, the students can decide to co-invest with the partner from the Venture Fund.
“Students receive mentorship from professionals who spend time teaching them the science and art involved in investing in early stage, nonpublic companies across industries. One of the most memorable meetings that we had was with the CEO of Elevate Ventures, Christopher (Toph) Day, where he talked about the different funds within Elevate, their investment style, the rounds that they like to invest in, and what they look for in entrepreneurs.”
Varun Bali, MSF ‘22
Additional Activities & Engagements
MSF students can also take advantage of activities outside of the finance department. Students are encouraged to engage with the general Purdue graduate student population to gain a diverse perspective of business, culture, lifestyles, and more!
Clubs & Organizations
Serving in a student organization is a great way to meet and make friends who share similar interests. Within the business school students can apply their knowledge and expertise in clubs related to their major as well as other areas of management.
Regardless of major, students can engage in university-wide clubs rallied around many diverse interests such as advocacy and support, athletics and recreation, community service and engagement, ethnic and cultural, female identity-based, international, military, political, religious, social and many more!
Explore Business Clubs Get Involved Across Campus
Socials
The business school graduate programs office offers co-curricular opportunities to promote social and professional networking for our students.
The Graduate Programs Office offers scholarships to participate in one of the following experiences. Students must apply by November 1 for consideration. Individual awards will range from $250 to $500. Scholarships can be applied toward tuition, fees, travel accommodations, or other costs directly related to these experiences.
Gettysburg Experience
Travel to Gettysburg, PA, for an immersive experience with the Lincoln Leadership Institute. Select Daniels School students will explore leadership concepts using incidents from the Battle of Gettysburg.
Participants will leave with a greater understanding of positioning for strategic advantage, engaging our followers, identifying and protecting organizational vulnerabilities, managing a professional disagreement, and building high performing, high character teams.
This 2-credit hour opportunity is available only in the spring semester.
Study Abroad
Students are encouraged to explore the yearly study abroad opportunities available through the university and the Daniels School of Business. Previous trip locations include countries in Europe, South America, and Central Asia.
This opportunity is available only in the spring semester.
Washington Campus
Travel to Washington D.C. for intensive education and professional development programs ranging from one to five days. Participants will learn from policy and public affairs experts, political and government leaders, and other key players from business, associations, media, think tanks, and NGOs.
Participants will leave prepared to think and act more strategically regarding government, public affairs, and public policy, with a a better understanding of how government and public policy affects organizations and industries, as well as individual careers and communities.
All programs include site visits to government offices and agencies and other historic and important D.C. locations.
This 2-credit hour opportunity is available in the fall, spring, and summer semesters.
Schedule a Meeting
If you’d like to learn more about any of the above opportunities, please reach out to the MSF admissions specialist.