The Department of Finance

The finance department at Iowa has a strong commitment to graduate education at the Ph.D. level. We are nationally and internationally recognized in a number of areas, and produce a steady stream of significant research which is published in major journals. The department is relatively small, consisting of fifteen full-time faculty. Thus we are able to combine an active, research-oriented environment with the collegial atmosphere of a small and selective program.

The research interests of the finance faculty are varied. They include asset pricing, capital market operations, market microstructure, options and futures pricing, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, mortgage pricing and mortgage choice. Members of the finance faculty undertake both theoretical and empirical research.

About a dozen Ph.D. students are resident at any one time. The low student-faculty ratio ensures that students receive greater attention from the faculty than in larger programs. Students are also quickly integrated into teaching, research and seminar activities and become full, active and valuable members of the department.

The Ph.D. Program in Finance

The program prepares students for teaching or research positions in academia, the government sector, or private industry. Students receive carefully structured, rigorous and comprehensive training in finance. As part of this training, students take courses in microeconomic theory, macroeconomic theory, statistics and econometrics, as well as in the various fields of finance.

The University requires 72 semester hours of graduate credit for the Ph.D. degree. Assuming a normal academic load of nine or more hours per semester and no credit for previous graduate work, the usual time required to complete the degree is five years.

Students need not have an undergraduate degree in finance or economics to enter the program. However, evidence of good performance on finance-related courses is a factor in the admission decision. Admission prospects are also brighter for students who have a strong aptitude for mathematics and have completed at least one year of calculus. In addition, fluency in spoken and written English, indicated by TOEFL scores where required, is a prerequisite for admission to the program.

In keeping with the important role of mathematical tools in modern finance, the Ph.D. program contains a relatively heavy quantitative emphasis in the core course sequence. However, it is possible for students subsequently to specialize in less quantitative fields as well as those requiring greater mathematical expertise.

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