Concerning Requirements for the PhD in Finance

Requirements for the PhD degree in Finance are published in the Wharton Doctoral Programs catalog.

The primary mission of the PhD program in finance is to prepare students of exceptional talent for careers in research and teaching at the world's leading academic institutions. The faculty are renowned for their research, both empirical and theoretical, in areas such as the structure of financial markets, the formation and behavior of financial asset prices, banking and monetary systems, corporate control and capital structure, saving and capital formation, and international financial markets.

During the first two years of the program, students take courses in finance and in related disciplines such as economics and statistics, and a comprehensive examination is administered to confirm a mastery of the topics in finance. In addition, students are required during their second year to write a paper containing original research in an area of interest to the student. This paper, written under the guidance of two faculty advisers, is presented at a workshop. During the third year, students make the transition from course work to full-time dissertation research. A dissertation proposal is held late in the third year or early in the fourth year, and the dissertation is completed during the fourth year.

The Finance Department sponsors a variety of weekly seminars for the presentation and discussion of current research in finance. Speakers include faculty and doctoral students from Wharton, the Department of Economics, and many other universities. These seminars provide an essential element of the PhD program in finance, and students at all stages of the program are encouraged to attend and to participate.

Undergraduate training in economics, mathematics, engineering, or other quantitative disciplines is an excellent background to undertake doctoral studies in the field of finance. The GMAT or the GRE General Test is required of all applicants. Applicants are expected to have completed introductory courses in economic theory, mathematics (including calculus) and basic accounting principles. Students who do not meet these course requirements but otherwise show promise may be admitted on the condition that they remove any deficiencies during the summer that precedes enrollment or soon thereafter. Students must take (or waive by exam) ECON 898 which is offered in the fall term. To help students prepare for ECON 898, the Economics Department offers ECON 897, a non-credit course in mathematical analysis for economists held for six weeks at the end of the summer prior to the beginning of the program. Students are not required to take ECON 897, but they are required to successfully complete ECON 898.

Teacher Development Program (TDP)

All PhD candidates in the Wharton Doctoral Programs may be required to participate in the Teacher Development Program (TDP). Offered in the fall semester only (meeting twice a week for four weeks), the workshop covers course design, lecturing, discussions, the use of the case method, and other pedagogical strategies. All participants are videotaped at least twice and will receive individual, confidential feedback from the instructor.
Doctoral candidates are encouraged to participate in the program during their second year to prepare them to teach while at Wharton. However, the requirement may be fulfilled at any time during residency. Occasionally, waivers may be granted by the department's doctoral coordinator under the following conditions:
• significant prior teaching experience
• recognized teaching awards
• college-level education courses
The department waiver, if granted, must be registered in writing with the Wharton Doctoral Office.
Please see the Center for Teaching and Learning site for further information.

SPEAK Test

International students who are accepted into the program and whose first language is not English may be required to take the SPEAK test offered through the English Language Programs office.
This test is used to determine/confirm a student's fluency in English. If test results indicate a student would benefit from additional language instruction, arrangements will be made for summer class work and tutoring. Students will be expected to complete this additional work to ensure their proficiency in written and spoken English in professional settings.

Program of Study

Research/Teaching Fellow

In the first year, there are no teaching or research responsibilities required in connection with this fellowship. In the second year, you will be required to serve as a research fellow. In the third and fourth years, you will be required to serve as a teaching fellow, which involves approximately 10 to 15 hours per week. Continuation of the award also requires that you maintain a least a B+ average in coursework and satisfy other program requirements. It is also required that you notify us of any other financial aid that you receive, and your award may be adjusted accordingly.

The PhD in finance requires a minimum of twenty graduate level courses, of which eight at most can be transferred from relevant graduate courses at other schools or universities. Of the twenty courses, eleven are required as follows:

Economics (2 courses)

ECON 701 ECON 898

Microeconomic Theory I - OR ECON 681 Elementary Mathematics for Economists

Students with superior economics training may elect not to take 681 or 701 and to substitute a higher-level economics course. Students with superior mathematics training may satisfy the 898 requirement by passing a waiver exam administered by the Department of Economics in September and then substitute a higher-level course dealing with quantitative methods. Students must pass both courses with a grade of B- or better.


Econometrics or Statistics (2 courses)

A one-year graduate level sequence in statistics or in probability and statistics is required. Finance PhD students are encouraged to take either STAT 520/521 or ECON 705/706. Students may, with the prior approval of the PhD coordinator in Finance, satisfy the statistics requirement with STAT 520/512, STAT 510/520, or STAT 550/551. In extraordinary cases, and with prior approval of the PhD coordinator in Finance, a student may satisfy the statistics requirement with other course sequences.

STAT 520: Applied Econometrics I
STAT 521: Applied Econometrics II

ECON 705: Econometrics I
ECON 706: Econometrics II

STAT 520: Applied Econometrics I
STAT 512: Mathematical Statistics

STAT 510: Probability
STAT 520: Applied Econometrics I

STAT 550: Mathematical Statistics
STAT 551: Introduction to Linear Statistical Models

Students must pass both courses in the sequence chosen with a grade of B- or better. Alternatively, for any of these courses the student may pass a waiver or preliminary examination administered by the department in which the course is taught and then substitute higher-level courses in the same area.

Finance Core (6 courses)

FNCE 911 FNCE 912 FNCE 921 FNCE 922 FNCE 924 FNCE 934

Financial Economics Financial Institutions Introduction to Empirical Methods Continuous-Time Financial Economics Intertemporal Macroeconomics and Finance Empirical Research in Finance

Finance Electives (1 course)
Each student is expected to develop proficiency in specialized areas in preparation for dissertation and research work. To this end, one or more finance electives are required from among the following courses:

FNCE 923 FNCE 932 FNCE 933 FNCE 937 FNCE 939 FNCE 950

Financial Economics under Imperfect Information Corporate Finance International Finance Applied Quantitative Methods in Finance Behavioral Finance Research Seminar in Finance

Up to four courses per semester may be counted toward the overall requirement of twenty courses. The eight courses taken in the first year usually consist of the four required economics and statistics courses as well as the first four finance core courses. The remaining two finance core courses are usually taken in the fall semester of the second year. In general, students complete all courses by the end of the third year.

Candidacy
Students are admitted to candidacy after satisfactorily completing the following:

• Course requirements as described above.
• A preliminary written examination in finance, administered by the Finance Department. In general, students are allowed no more than one unsuccessful attempt to pass a preliminary examination. Unsatisfactory performance in courses, preliminary examinations, or the second-year paper can necessitate a student's withdrawal from the program.
• A second-year research paper, approved by two faculty advisers and presented in a workshop. (A proposal for the contents of this paper and the names of the two faculty advisers must be submitted to the PhD Program Coordinator by May 1st of the second year.)

Dissertation
During the third and fourth years, after admission to candidacy, the student conducts dissertation research under the guidance of a dissertation adviser and other interested faculty. It is expected that the dissertation will contain original research meeting standards of quality roughly equivalent to those of the major academic journals in finance and economics. The student is required

• to write and defend a proposal for a PhD dissertation and
• to write and defend a PhD dissertation.

The approval of both requirements rests with the student's dissertation committee, which consists of at least three faculty members (including the dissertation advisor), not more than five faculty members, and is formed in accordance with the rules of the University of Pennsylvania and those of the Wharton School PhD program.

Sample Program Sequence

A typical schedule for a PhD student in finance may look as follows:

Year 1	Pre-fall	ECON 897 or waiver
Year 1	Fall	ECON 681, ECON 898, FNCE 911, ECON 705 or STAT 520
Year 1	Spring	FNCE 912, FNCE 921, FNCE 924, ECON 706 or STAT 521
Finance Preliminary Exam in June
Year 2	Fall	FNCE 922, Finance elective and related field and tool courses
Year 2	Spring	FNCE 934, One related field or tool course, and one finance elective course
Year 3		Presentation of second-year research paper Admission to candidacy Dissertation proposal
Year 4		Dissertation workshop Dissertation defense

Concerning the Preliminary Examination in Finance

1. The finance preliminary examination is given once each year. All students enrolled in the Ph.D. program in Finance must take the preliminary examination immediately following their first year in the program. If a student fails the examination, the student may retake the exam the following year.
2. If a student fails the preliminary examination twice, the student will not normally be allowed to continue in the program as a Ph.D. student. The student may at the discretion of the examination committee, however, continue to complete the requirements for the Master's degree in Finance.
3. Under extenuating circumstances, a student may be permitted to take the examination a third time. The process for a student appealing to do so is described in the Wharton School Doctoral Programs Policies and Procedures booklet. Under no circumstances can a student take the preliminary examination more than three times.
4. Preliminary examination questions pertain to the material covered in all finance courses taken during the first year (usually FNCE 911, FNCE 912, FNCE 921 and FNCE 924). The preliminary examination is meant to test basic material and will be substantially related to these courses.
5. The committee that administers the examination and makes the final decisions on the outcome of the examination will consist of the instructors of the four courses listed above, together with second graders chosen by the Finance Ph.D. coordinator, who also acts as Chairman of this committee.
6. All examinations will be graded by both the instructor for the course and the second grader on the following scale:

   O P MP MF F

   Outstanding Clear pass Marginal pass Marginal failure Clear failure

7. In the event that the marks given by the instructor and the second grader differ by more than one grade, and at least one of them is a failing grade, a third grader will be asked to grade the exam and join in the deliberations of the committee concerning that student.
8. Examinations will be graded anonymously, and all students clearly passing all parts of the examination will be judged as having passed the preliminary examination as a whole before their names are identified.
9. Still maintaining the anonymity of examinees, the committee will then examine the pattern of grades for those who did not clearly pass all parts of the examination and classify each candidate into one of three classes:

   i. ii. iii.

   Those who should be judged as passing the examination on the basis of the preliminary examination alone. Those who should be judged as having failed on the basis of the preliminary examination alone. Those whose results by themselves should be judged as a failure but whose exam contains some redeeming features.

   Names of candidates who are classified into group (iii.) will then be given to the members of the examination committee, together with the entire records of these candidates, and the committee will determine whether individual candidates in group (iii.) can be considered as having passed the preliminary examination.
   
10. After all decisions are made, the Finance Ph.D. Coordinator will write to all candidates to give them their results as soon as is practicable.

Concerning the Master's Degree in Finance

School Requirements
The school requires that students pass examinations in economic theory, in quantitative methods and in their fields of specialization. In addition they must demonstrate a capacity for research either through the preparation of a thesis or through participation in supervised research leading to the completion of at least one scholarly paper. These requirements can usually be met in three semesters of full-time study.

Department Requirements
Course Requirements
At least 10 course units must be completed (credits transferred from other universities may not be used). These courses must include the following:

Students must pass both courses in the sequence chosen with a grade of B- or better. Alternatively, for any of these courses the student may pass a waiver or preliminary examination administered by the department in which the course is taught and then substitute higher-level courses in the same area.

Finance
The required courses in this category are:

At the discretion of the Ph.D. Coordinator, higher level courses may be substituted in any of these categories. The average grade in the 10 course units must be at least B minus.

Preliminary Examination Requirement
The preliminary examination in Finance must be passed at the Masters level.

Research Requirement
The candidate must prepare a research paper under the supervision of a finance faculty member. The faculty member must approve it for the research requirement to be satisfied.