Program Overview

Overview of the UBC MSc in Business Administration - Finance Program

The UBC Sauder's two-year finance MSc program is a competitive research-oriented master's degree that aims to give students exposure to the frontiers of academic research. The majority of students go on to pursue finance doctorates, with past placements including Columbia, Cornell, NYU, and Wharton; while others work for financial firms in Canada or abroad.

Program Structure

• The program commences annually in September.
• Students take classes side-by-side with Finance PhD students and interact extensively with finance faculty.
• The first summer is typically spent as a paid research assistant for a UBC faculty member.
• The guidance, courses, and research assistantships set up students to apply to PhD programs in the Fall of their second year, with the program ending the following May.

Admissions

• Admission is competitive and incoming students typically have very strong academic records and undergraduate training in business, economics, mathematics, engineering, and other quantitative disciplines.
• Students come from countries around the world and previous work experience is not required.
• The application deadline is December 31 to be considered for the following year.

Tuition and Financial Support

Tuition

• Annual tuition and fees for the 2024/25 are less than $7,000 for domestic students and $8,000 for international students (net of a partial tuition scholarship for research-oriented masters graduate programs of $3,200 per year).

Research Assistantships

• MSc students are integral to faculty research and commonly work as paid research assistants over the summer.
• Students earn money to support their studies, with past summer research assistants earning up to $12,000.

Teaching Assistantships

• Master’s students often supplement their income and hone their instructional skills by working as teaching assistants.
• As of September 2023, master’s student teaching assistants are paid $37.53 per hour.

Subsidized Graduate Student Housing

• The university offers subsidized housing for graduate students, with options available to match student family situations.

Scholarships and Awards

• RBC Graduate Entrance Scholarship for Women in Finance: A competitive $25,000 entrance scholarship is offered annually by the Royal Bank of Canada for an outstanding female student in the program.
• Y. P. Heung Foundation Award in Honour of Michael A. Goldberg: A competitive $5,000 award is offered by the Y. P. Heung Foundation in honour of Michael A. Goldberg for second-year MSc students every other year.

Program of Study

MSc students take a combination of Masters (500-level) and PhD (600-level) courses. A representative MSc student's schedule includes:

• Year 1 Fall: COMM 671 Theory of Finance, ECON 500 Microeconomics, ECON 502 Macroeconomics, and an elective.
• Year 1 Winter: COMM 672 Theoretical Corporate Finance, COMM 676 Empirical Corporate Finance, and two electives.
• Year 2 Fall: Two to four electives.
• Year 2 Winter: COMM 673 Theoretical Asset Pricing, COMM 674 Empirical Asset Pricing, and up to two electives.

Academic Placements

Since 2018, three-quarters of graduating students have gone on to pursue PhDs at institutions such as the University of Southern California, Wharton, Cornell, and the University of British Columbia.

Student Stories

• Bo Bian: Went from the MSc to a PhD at the London School of Business, before joining the UBC finance faculty.
• David Barkemeyer: Graduated from the MSc program and is bound for a Wharton PhD in Finance.