Ph.D. in Business Administration with a Major in Finance

The primary goal of the Ph.D. program in Business Administration with a Major in Finance is to prepare students to become productive researchers and effective teachers at institutions of higher learning or to pursue a career as researchers in government and business. The Finance Ph.D. program emphasizes the ability to conduct original research on important topics in the field of finance and the development of effective teaching skills in the classroom. All Finance Ph.D. students begin active teaching or research at an early stage in their academic program. As teaching assistants, Ph.D. students are assigned to assist faculty members in the classroom or to teach their own independent section. As research assistants, Ph.D. students are assigned to assist faculty members in their research projects. Some Ph.D. students have unique assignments in both teaching and research.

The minimum course requirements for the Finance Ph.D. program consist of eight major courses in finance (24 hours), three support area courses (9 hours), and six research and teaching tools courses (18 hours). Quantitative and econometrics courses can be designated as courses in the support area or as courses in the research and teaching tools. These courses are designed to develop analytical skills and to provide students with a good foundation in theoretical modeling and empirical testing. Each student discusses his or her individual program with the Program Committee that consists of five graduate faculty members. Students are encouraged to develop research projects throughout the program for submission to journals or academic meetings.

Students are expected to take the Quantitative Area Qualifying Exam by the end of their first year of study and are eligible to take the Written Comprehensive Exam in finance after a satisfactory completion of three seminar courses in corporate finance, investments, and financial institutions and markets. The Written Comprehensive Exam is administered twice a year, one in the early Spring semester and one in late summer prior to the beginning of the Fall semester. After passing the Written Comprehensive Exam, students begin work on their choice of research area to initiate an original research project and present it to the faculty for approval as a dissertation proposal. The final oral exam is the dissertation defense where students present and defend their dissertations.

The University Library subscribes to Standard & Poor's Research Insight (COMPUSTAT) database and a comprehensive list of academic journals in finance and economics. The College of Business subscribes to the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) database, and the Department of Finance and Economics has access to a number of specialized databases related to investments, banking, and real estate. These include Thomson Financial's SDC Platinum New Issues Database and the SNL REIT Datasource Database, and several others. 

Finance Ph.D. students are admitted for the fall semester of even years only. The department is currently accepting and evaluating applications for admission in Fall 2008.

For more specific information about the finance Ph.D. program at Mississippi State University, please contact the coordinator of graduate programs in finance, Dr. Michael J. Highfield, CFA.

College of Business and Industry

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