Choosing a Finance Master's Degree: 3 Things to Look For

With 179 universities featured in the latest QS Business Master’s Rankings: Finance, choosing a finance master’s degree can be a difficult decision.

If you’re struggling to choose a finance master’s degree, there are three things you should look for in a university: research-led learning, innovative teaching, and a strong international outlook.

Read on to learn more about why these three factors can help you get the most out of a master’s in finance.

Research-led learning

At some universities, academic research shapes the content of every degree program. This research-led approach ensures that degree programs keep pace with the latest developments in the field and helps distinguish one university’s degrees from those offered by other institutions.

Bocconi University in Milan offers a wide range of research-led programs, including the MSc Finance. Its experienced faculty, together with the expertise of visiting professors and teaching fellows, ensures that every degree program benefits from world-class, up-to-date research.

According to Hannes Wagner, Associate Professor of Finance at Bocconi University: “The difference between a good and a great university is that in great universities there are professors who are all around you working on the cutting edge of what we know today.”

Bocconi’s research provides insights into contemporary issues and developments and guidance on emerging trends.

Research-led institutions try to bring that research into the classroom whenever possible. Not all research can be directly translated into teaching, but the ideas behind it often can be.

“Many ideas from research are perfectly applicable to the classroom. Research appears in the classroom in many ways and has a huge impact on the learning process,” Professor Wagner said.

Innovative teaching

When choosing a master’s degree, you should look for programs taught by experienced faculty that offer innovative teaching methods. Rather than endless textbooks, lectures, and assignments, look for universities that help you engage with the material more actively.

Bocconi’s MSc Finance is taught by distinguished international faculty as well as expert practitioners in the field. This two-year program combines theoretical training with practical application, and students can choose their area of specialization in the second year.

According to Professor Wagner, Bocconi finance students should expect to be taught in a variety of ways, especially as technology becomes more deeply involved.

He said: “My own teaching is constantly evolving, and the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly accelerated our use of technology. My favorite teaching moments are those when technology becomes seamless and lifts the overall learning experience to a new level.”

In addition to standard teaching methods, Bocconi uses technology to support students in two main ways.

Flipped classrooms

A flipped classroom is a blended-learning approach that makes it easier to engage with course material.

By combining online and in-person learning, students complete some reading, watch lectures, or do an activity at home before attending an in-person lecture. They then discuss the material in person.

Gamification

Gamification means designing a course in the form of an interactive game. This helps you engage more deeply with lectures and develop a better understanding of the subject.

International outlook

If you’re considering a master’s degree in finance, choosing a university with an international outlook can help you take the next step in your career.

Studying for a finance master’s degree at Bocconi will help you develop a truly global mindset. Bocconi University is based in Milan, Italy’s financial, industrial, and business hub. It has agreements with more than 280 international partner schools, and more than 4,000 students go abroad to study or work each year.

You will also have the opportunity to learn another language, such as Italian, French, Spanish, German, or Mandarin, although many of Bocconi’s courses are taught in English.

If you want to study finance at an internationally focused university, Professor Wagner from Bocconi will host an online masterclass on cybercrime, confidentiality, and trust in financial markets on 24 February 2022.

“This masterclass will help them think about the big-picture issues of how finance interacts with modern technology and, most importantly, how it interacts with computer science. Unlike most of our practical courses, this masterclass will not be templated,” Professor Wagner said.

The masterclass will discuss the impact of globalization and technological change on cybercrime, and what that means for trust and security in finance. Ultimately, it will conclude by considering what this means for the skills students need for future careers in finance.