Suggested Course Work

CFA, Comprehensive, and Minor Field Exams

The CFA Exam

Ph.D. students are required to take and pass the CFA Level 1 exam in June after their first year of classes. (Students that have already passed the CFA Level 1 exam are waived from this requirement.) The CFA Level 1 exam is a graduate-level program that combines a broad curriculum with professional conduct requirements. The exam covers: Ethical and Professional Standards, Quantitative Methods, Economics, Financial Statement Analysis, Corporate Finance, Portfolio Management, Equity, Fixed Income, Derivatives, and Alternative Investments. If a student fails the June exam, they will be given one more chance to pass the exam. The Level 1 exams are held each year in June and December. Students that fail the CFA Level 1 exam a second time will be dismissed from the Ph.D. program.

The Major Field (Comprehensive) Exam

Upon completion of the course work, the student must pass a comprehensive examination in his or her major area of study (finance). This comprehensive exam will cover material from all of the finance doctoral seminars, the research seminar series (FIN 6122), and may also include material from the supporting fields (e.g., statistics and economics). Students should also study other finance concepts not specifically taught in their seminar courses. The expected level of knowledge for these additional concepts is what would be expected of a MS Finance student.

Suggested Study Resources

To assist in studying for the comprehensive exam, and also to supplement Ph.D. course material, the Finance Department recommends the following masters and Ph.D. level textbooks.

Corporate

Brealey, Myers, and Allen, 2006, Principles of Corporate Finance.

Copeland, Weston, and Shastri, 2005, Finance Theory and Corporate Policy.

Investments

Bodie, Kane, and Marcus, 2005, Investments.

Elton, Gruber, Brown, Goetzmann, 2003, Modern Portfolio Theory and Investment Analysis.

Harrington, 1987, Modern Portfolio Theory, The CAPM, and APT: A Users Guide.

Financial Markets

Van Horne, 2001, Financial Markets Rates and Flows.

Mishkin and Eakins, 2006, Financial Markets and Institutions.

Market Microstructure

O’Hara, 1998, Market Microstructure Theory.

Empirical Methods

Campbell, Lo, and MacKinlay, 1997, The Econometrics of Financial Markets (selected readings).

Structure of the Comprehensive Exam

The comprehensive examination comes in two parts: a written exam and an oral exam. However, students with an overall grade of High Pass on the written portion of the exam will not have to sit for the oral exam. Failure of either the written or oral exam constitutes a failure of the finance comprehensive exam. Students who fail the finance comprehensive exam may petition the Doctoral Committee for permission to take the exam a second and final time. Students that fail the comprehensive exam a second time will be dismissed from the Ph.D. program.

Dates

The comprehensive exam is offered once a year in May or June and would typically be taken after the completion of the second year of course work. The written portion of the exam is given over one day. The oral exam is usually scheduled two weeks after the written exam.

Supporting Field Exam

Students must pass a supporting field exam in one of the two supporting fields (generally in either statistics or economics). The supporting field exam is typically taken at the end of the second year. The statistics exam is offered three times a year: mid-March, mid-July, and mid-October. The economics exam is offered twice a year, in the middle of Fall semester and in the middle of Spring semester.

Students who fail the supporting field exam may petition the Doctoral Committee for permission to take the exam a second and final time. Students that fail the supporting field exam a second time will be dismissed from the Ph.D. program.

Admission to Candidacy

Upon successful completion of the required coursework, the CFA exam, comprehensive exam, and supporting field exam, the student will be admitted to candidacy.