Applicable only to students admitted during the 2024-2025 academic year.

Management

John E. Anderson School of Management

Graduate Degrees

The John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management offers the Master of Science (M.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Management, the Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) degree, the Executive M.B.A. degree, the Fully-Employed M.B.A degree, Global Executive M.B.A for Asia Pacific degree, the Master of Financial Engineering (M.F.E.) degree, and the Master of Science in Business Analytics (M.S.B.A.) degree. In addition, there are a number of degree programs, offered in cooperation with other graduate and professional degree programs on campus, that lead to the M.B.A. and another degree.

Master of Financial Engineering

Admissions Requirements

Master’s Degree

Advising

The faculty director of the M.F.E. program is in charge of student advising.

Areas of Study

Financial Engineering.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

The required elements of the M.F.E. program are the core courses, the electives, the Applied Finance project, the M.F.E. Career Development series, and the Field experience (internship). The core courses teach the fundamental techniques and disciplines which underlie the practice of financial engineering. Electives provide knowledge and skills for specialized fields of work. The Applied Finance project allows students an opportunity to apply knowledge gained in the program to financial engineering issues in real organizations. The M.F.E. Career Development Series prepares students for their professional success. The Field experience provides an opportunity to develop practical experience through an internship with a company in their proposed area of study.

A total of 72 units is required for the degree. All courses must be at the graduate level. In exceptional circumstances, a maximum of four units of 500-series course work may be applied to the course requirements.

Core Courses. The financial engineering core consists of 10 courses, 40 units in total (MGMTMFE 400, 401, 402, 403, 406, 407, 408, 409, 412, and 413), on subjects basic to the practice of financial engineering.

Elective Courses. 20 units of graduate level management electives provide students with the opportunity to tailor their curriculum to their desired career path.

Applied Finance Project. 4 units. A team project, MGMTMFE 410, is the final, professional requirement of the M.F.E. program.

 M.F.E. Career Development Series. 4 units of career development programming (MGMTMFE 415) provides students with the necessary career management skills and tools to effectively identify, compete, and secure professional opportunities. MGMTMFE 415 is offered only on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) grading basis.

 Field Experience. 4 units. Provides an opportunity to develop practical experience through an internship with a company in their proposed area of study. MGMTMFE 411 is offered only on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) grading basis.

Teaching Experience

Not Required.

Field Experience

Internship required.

M.F.E. students are required to do an internship with a company in their proposed area of study (financial engineering). The summer quarter is the primary time to satisfy this requirement; however, internships may be pursued during the spring or fall terms. Students should expect to devote at least 120 hours during the term to their internship, and should be prepared to provide regular activity reports to their faculty advisor. Students considering research positions may also discuss their plans with the M.F.E. program faculty director in order to develop alternative research/special projects opportunities to meet this requirement. M.F.E. students will have their field experiences evaluated by their faculty adviser through enrollment in MGMTMFE 411, Fieldwork/Research in Financial Engineering. Evaluation may consist of any combination of written or oral presentations.

Capstone Plan

The capstone plan requirement is fulfilled by successful completion of the Applied Finance Project (MGMTMFE 410) course with grade of “B” or better. Teams of students complete an original applied research project that will develop or utilize existing quantitative finance tools and techniques. The project is designed to provide an in-depth exposure to at least one major task students will be expected to fulfill in the workplace. Students are individually evaluated by three UCLA faculty members who supervise the project to ensure that the students’ work and contributions adhere to the rigorous academic requirements of the program.

Thesis Plan

None.

Time-to-Degree

Approximately 15 months from graduate admission to award of the degree, including a summer internship.

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
M.F.E.	4	4	8

Academic Disqualification and Appeal of Disqualification

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for academic disqualification from graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade-point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing academic disqualification of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.