Note: The MS in Corporate Finance is not taking new students into the program for the current academic year.
Program Overview
Rider’s Master of Science in Corporate Finance is designed to prepare students for a leadership role in managerial finance in a corporate setting. Our program capitalizes on the strengths of Rider’s AACSB-accredited Accounting program and nationally-ranked Finance program, allowing students to develop and practice skills that can lead to success in the corporate environment. Our distinctive managerial and accounting emphasis will put students on track to become a CFO. Through this program, students will become adept at synthesizing financial and accounting data, and using modeling to recommend financial strategies that impact high-level business decisions.
Student Learning Outcomes
The learning outcomes and competencies below are the core of the Rider University Norm Brodsky College of Business MS in Corporate Finance program. They provide the foundation for its curriculum and are designed to enhance student success, both throughout the program and post-graduation.
- Applying Technical Knowledge - Synthesize financial information (data) to perform appropriate tasks reflective of various influences among enterprises;
- Decision-making - Make strategic decisions that are integrative;
- Leadership- Manage organizational activities in a global environment;
- Communication - Effectively communicate business information in the appropriate format.
Curriculum Overview
The MS in Corporate Finance curriculum includes foundation and core classes. Depending on the background of the individual student, completion of the degree may require between 30-40.5 credits. Rider's Norm Brodsky College of Business is accredited by the AACSB International (Association for the Advancement of Collegiate Schools of Business), a distinction held by fewer than 4% of business programs worldwide
Classes for the program are offered in the evening, Monday through Thursday, with some courses offered online. Students may enter the program in the fall, spring or summer semester and can elected to pursue the MS in Corporate Finance on a full or part-time basis. Students who would like to complete the program within a year must start in the fall. Courses are taught in small sections, usually by full-time faculty holding doctoral degrees. Faculty are engaged in research in their fields and have business experience as well.
Degree Offered
- Master of Science in Corporate Finance
Contact
Mrs. Jean Cherney
Graduate Business Academic Coordinator
Sweigart Hall 236
609-895-5557
jcherney@rider.edu
Master of Science in Corporate Finance Program Requirements
(30 credits)
The Master of Science in Corporate Finance program consists of 30 semester hours at the graduate level. The courses in the program provide a depth of knowledge and skills in three main areas: managerial accounting and financial statement analysis, corporate finance, and investments, and legal/ethical aspects of management.
Program Requirements
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PMBA 8220 | Strategic Accounting for Manager | 3 |
| PMBA 8240 | Applied Corporate Finance | 3 |
| PMBA 8290 | Legal and Ethical Aspects of Management | 3 |
| PMBA 8324 | Financial Accounting & Report | 3 |
| PMBA 8325 | Enterprise Risk Management | 3 |
| PMBA 8343 | Investment Instruments and Strategies | 3 |
| PMBA 8345 | International Financial Management | 3 |
| PMBA 8346 | Financial Modeling | 3 |
| MACC 652 | Analysis of Accounting Data | 3 |
| Elective 1 | 3 | |
| Total Credits | 30 | |
| 1 | Elective may be selected from any MAcc or PMBA course (except for PMBA 80xx prerequisites) for which the student has satisfied the prerequisite. |
Foundation Requirements
Students may also be required to take an additional 10.5 credit hours of foundation requirements based on their educational and professional experience. Waiver of these courses follows the guidelines defined under the Waiver of Courses section.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses: | ||
| PMBA 8020 | Fundamentals of Accounting | 3 |
| PMBA 8030 | Economic Analysis | 3 |
| PMBA 8040 | Basic Financial Principles | 1.5 |
| PMBA 8051 | Fundamentals of Statistical Analysis | 3 |
| Total Credits | 10.5 | |
MS in Corporate Finance –Waiver of Courses
A waiver of a course from foundation requirements may be granted under the following conditions:
I) PMBA foundation class is waived based on previous undergraduate coursework if:
- Student took the equivalent course less than six years ago and received a grade of B or above.
- Student took the equivalent course more than six years ago and received a grade of B or above and utilizes the knowledge in their professional position on a regular basis, as determined by the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs.
II) PMBA foundation class is waived upon the proficiency assessment or successful completion of a review short-course if:
- Student took the equivalent course less than six years ago and received a grade of B- or C+.
- Student took the equivalent course more than six years ago and received a grade of B or better.
- Student took the equivalent course more than six years ago and received a grade of B- or C+ and utilizes that specific knowledge in their professional position on a regular basis, as determined by the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs.
III) PMBA foundation class must be taken if:
- Student has never taken the undergraduate equivalent class.
- Student received below a C+ in the class, regardless of when it was taken.
In all cases, the comparable undergraduate courses must have been taken from an accredited school.
If a student is granted a waiver for any foundation requirements, the student is responsible for a satisfactory level of competency with the representative material. If necessary, the student should review and/or seek tutoring support for the waived material in preparation for advanced courses. Any appeal of a waiver decision based on previous course work must be made to the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs within the first semester of the program.
Core Course Waivers
Students with undergraduate coursework in accounting may be able to substitute electives for PMBA 8220 and PMBA 8324 in the following situations so as not to duplicate course work content:
1. Students who took the equivalent ACC 302 Cost Management and meet the waiver guidelines list above with a B or better, may waive PMBA 8220 Strategic Accounting for Manager and replace it with a PMBA or MAcc elective.
2. Students who took the equivalent ACC 310 Acct Theory & Concepts I AND ACC 311 Acct Theory & Concepts II and meet the waiver guidelines list above with a B or better, may waive PMBA 8324 Financial Accounting & Report and replace it with a PMBA or MAcc elective.
Courses and Descriptions
PMBA 8220 Strategic Accounting for Manager 3 Credits
This course emphasizes the issues encountered by managers regarding performance measurement, incentives, ethics and strategic management accounting tools. Students will learn to recognize ethical issues and apply a code of conduct to those issues, understand the criteria for recognizing revenue, analyze cash flows for investment decisions, compute measures of returns on investments, and understand the uses of a Balance Scorecard in performance evaluation. This course will also cover transfer pricing issues and methods in domestic and international settings, the application of differential analysis to a variety of short-run decisions, and the application of traditional costing methods, activity-based costing, activity-based management, and target costing to products and services. Preparation of a master budget and its role in planning, control, and decision making is also discussed. This course is not open to MAcc students.
Prerequisite(s): PMBA 8020.
PMBA 8240 Applied Corporate Finance 3 Credits
This course is designed to further develop the students’ skills through practical application of concepts and tools taught in prior finance courses. Students will learn by solving real-world case studies and learning to communicate clearly their decisions to both sophisticated and lay audiences. The primary method of instruction is the preparation, presentation, and discussion of finance cases. Each case study session will be preceded by lectures and discussion of the main theoretical concepts. The case studies considered will cover a wide range of corporate financial problems including value creation, capital budgeting, capital structure, cost of capital, and mergers and acquisitions. Throughout the course, attention will be given to the international dimensions of the issues and problems presented and discussed.
PMBA 8290 Legal and Ethical Aspects of Management 3 Credits
The purpose of this course is to prepare students to meet the legal, ethical, and regulatory challenges and opportunities they will encounter as they conduct business as managers and entrepreneurs. To excel, managers and entrepreneurs must recognize that the law is important to firm success and that they must always consider the legal ramifications of their business decisions. Students will learn how to identify legal and ethical issues before they become legal problems and how to communicate and work collaboratively with legal counsel. The course begins with an overview of business ethics and social responsibility and goes on to cover the U.S. court system and the laws of contracts, torts, and intellectual property. The course covers corporate governance issues including the fiduciary duties of officers, directors, and controlling shareholders, public and private offerings of securities, and securities fraud. Environmental regulation, product quality, legal aspects of the employment relationship (as they relate to the liability of the corporation and managers for the acts of their employees), wrongful termination, discrimination, and sexual harassment will also be covered.
Prerequisite(s): Completion of MBA pre-program courses.
PMBA 8324 Financial Accounting & Report 3 Credits
Focus is on analysis and evaluation of alternative accounting methods and the relationship to company policy. Insight is gained through the reading of articles in leading accounting and financial periodicals and Internet research. Cases demonstrating financial reporting methods are assigned and discussed in class. Term project required. Topics include financial instruments, earnings per share, deferred taxes, post-retirement benefits and the accounting rule-making process.
PMBA 8325 Enterprise Risk Management 3 Credits
This course explores current issues and world-class practices of risk management at an organizational level. Emphasis will be placed on the overall risk management cycle of identifying, assessing, responding and managing strategic, reputational, financial and operational risks using contemporary risk management tools.
PMBA 8343 Investment Instruments and Strategies 3 Credits
Principles of investment analysis and portfolio management. Includes analysis of stocks and fixed income securities, mutual funds, international investing, margin trading and short sales, convertibles, stock options and financial futures. Hedging strategies, market forecasting and tax advantaged investments are also discussed. Makes considerable use of problems to illustrate concepts.
Prerequisite(s): Completion of PMBA 8040.
PMBA 8345 International Financial Management 3 Credits
The techniques of multinational financial management are developed for enterprises that do business in more than one country and/or have assets and liabilities denominated in more than one currency. The management of foreign exchange and country risks is applied to working capital, capital budgeting, and capital structure decisions.
Prerequisite(s): Completion of PMBA 8040.
PMBA 8346 Financial Modeling 3 Credits
Spreadsheets are utilized to analyze problems and cases. Students receive instruction in computer use beyond that available in other finance courses. Spreadsheet applications include valuation models, cost of capital, capital budgeting, risk and return, portfolio analysis, stock market analysis, and options and futures.
Prerequisite(s): Completion of PMBA 8040.
MACC 652 Analysis of Accounting Data 3 Credits
This course uses information technology and data analytical techniques to conduct analysis needs commonly faced by accounting professionals. The course uses cases and projects to pursue such areas of decision concern as financial statement analysis, the evaluation of audit risk and selected additional topics.
Prerequisite(s): completion of Preliminary Accounting requirements.