Ph.D. Program in Finance

General Timeline

Year	Academic Requirements
1	Course work
2	Course work, academic research paper, comprehensive and minor field exam
3	Dissertation proposal
4	Dissertation research, dissertation final defense

Enrollment

The Texas Tech University Graduate School requires a minimum of 60 semester credit hours beyond the bachelor's degree, of which at least 30 credit hours must be taken at Texas Tech University. In addition, the Rawls College of Business requires students to be registered in at least 24 hours each academic year (Fall, Spring, Summer) up to the range of 85-90 doctoral hours. After 90 hours, enrollment can be reduced to 3 hours per semester if the student is on-campus and 1 hour if off-campus (or the minimum required by the Graduate School). Finally, students on assistantship must enroll in at least 9 hours for both Fall and Spring semester, and at least 3 hours for either Summer I or Summer II (depending on the session of employment).

Students must complete their degree requirements with eight consecutive calendar years after the start of the program, or four years after being admitted to candidacy (whichever comes first).

Description of Course Work

There are four components to the Ph.D. program in Finance at Texas Tech University: 1) leveling courses, mathematical competency, seminar on teaching, and ESL testing (for international students) 2) the doctoral core, 3) finance specialization studies, and 4) two supporting areas of study (usually statistics and economics).

Students are urged to take statistics and economics as supporting fields unless they have a compelling reason for studying in another area. These two areas prepare students better for the rigor of the theoretical issues and research methods confronted in finance at the academic level, and in successfully completing a doctoral dissertation. Students must pass a supporting field exam in one of the two supporting fields. The supporting field exam is typically taken at the end of the second year.

Leveling Courses, Mathematical Competency, Seminar on Teaching, ESL Testing

Leveling Courses - The Rawls College of Business requires students to take the following leveling courses. Students with a prior degree in business can usually waive all (or most) of these classes.

Leveling courses (semester offered)
ACCT 5401	Financial and Managerial Accounting (Spring, Sum-2, Fall)
FIN 5421	Financial Management Concepts (Spring, Fall, Sum-1)
ISQS 5345	Statistical Concepts for Business and Management (Spring, Fall, Sum-1)
MKT 5360	Marketing Concepts and Strategies (Spring, Sum-1, Fall)
MGT 5371	Managing Organization Behavior and Org. Design (Spring, Sum-1, Fall)
BLAW 5290	Legal, Reg., and Ethical Environ. of Bus. (Spring, Sum-1, Sum-2, Fall)
ECO 5310	Price and Income Theory (Spring, Fall, Sum-1)

Note: The timing of course offerings in the above list (and the lists below) is based on recent semesters and is subject to change

Mathematical Competency
Each student must demonstrate by examination (or by prior or subsequent course work) competence in linear algebra and calculus. These examinations are given twice a year and seek to insure that the student has the necessary tools for coursework and research. The competency examinations or necessary course work must be completed in the first year of the program.

Seminar in Teaching
All Ph.D. students are required to take a class that prepares students to teach university classes. This requirement can be fulfilled by taking either BA 5395 (typically offered in the Fall semester) or BA 7000 (a one-hour course taught in the Finance Department, typically offered in the Spring semester).

ITA Test for International Students
Newly arrived international students should check with the International Affairs Office at the International Cultural Center regarding the ITA (International Teaching Assistant) assessment test. The test contains three parts: testing your proficiency in speaking, listening, and writing English. Tests are offered in mid-August. Check with the International Affairs office for exact dates and times. A low score on the test may require the student to enroll in ESL (English as a second language) courses such as: ESL 5301 (Advanced Writing for International Students) ESL 5305 (Speaking and Listening) ESL 5310 (English for Classroom Management) ESL 5315 (Academic Writing)

Doctoral Core

The second component in the doctoral program is directed toward assuring that each student has the ability to use quantitative and economic tools of analysis. To this end, three courses (9 semester credit hours) are required of all Business Ph.D. students. They are:

Doctoral core, all required (semester offered)
ISQS 5347	Advanced Statistical Methods (Fall)
ECO 5311	Macroeconomic Theory and Policy (Spring)
ECO 5312	Microeconomic Analysis (Fall)

Finance Specialization

The finance specialization consists of 21 units (7 semester courses) plus additional research credit hours associated with the doctoral dissertation work. At the heart of the finance specialization are the five doctoral courses dealing with the major functional areas within the discipline (FIN 6331, 6332, 6333, 6335, and 6336) and a research paper course taken during the summer between the first and second year (BA 7000). The seventh required course is taken from an approved set of masters level finance courses.

FIN 6331 is taught every Summer-2 semester. The other doctoral seminars are taught once every two years on a rotating sequence. The masters level finance courses are usually taught once or twice a year. Thus, each student should be able to complete the seven required courses in a two-year period.

Doctoral seminars, all required (semester offered)
FIN 6331	Seminar in Foundations of Finance (every Summer-2 semester)
FIN 6332	Seminar In Corporate Finance (Fall semester of odd years: 2009, 2011, etc.)
FIN 6333	Seminar in Investments (Spring semester of even years: 2010, 2012, etc.)
FIN 6335	Seminar In Financial Markets (Fall semester of even years: 2010, 2012, etc.)
FIN 6336	Seminar in Special Topics in Fin. (Spring semester of odd years: 2009, 2011, etc.)
BA 7000	Research Practicum (every Summer semester)

Approved masters-level finance courses, select one (semester offered)
FIN 5320	Financial Management Concepts (Fall, Spring, Summer-1)
FIN 5325	Security Analysis and Investments (Fall, Spring, Summer-1)
FIN 5327	Student-Managed Investment Fund (Spring, Fall, Summer-1)
FIN 5328	Options and Futures (Fall)
FIN 5329	Money and Capital Markets (Fall)
FIN 5333	The U.S. Financial System in a Global Environment (Spring)
FIN 5334	Real Estate Finance (Fall)
FIN 5336	Management of Financial Institutions (Fall)
FIN 5338	Multinational Financial Management (Summer-2)
FIN 5345	Real Estate Analysis (Spring)

Research Seminar Series

The Finance department at Texas Tech University has an active research seminar series offered on Friday afternoons. During these seminars, faculty and Ph.D. students from Texas Tech and other universities present their current research and receive critical feedback. The seminar series is an excellent opportunity for Ph.D. students to become acquainted with research problems, objectives, and methods so they can understand and conduct current research in finance. Ph.D. students receive credit for attending the seminar series by registering for Research in Finance (FIN 6122). This one-hour course should be taken each semester until the student has been admitted to candidacy and is graded on a P/F basis.

Supporting Field I (Statistics)

Students in the Finance Ph.D. program typically take a four course sequence in quantitative methods. Courses marked with an asterisk are usually required by the Finance department; the other courses are selected by the student depending upon his/her research interest.

Approved statistics courses (select four)
ISQS 5348*	Applied Distribution-Free Statistics (Spring)
ISQS 5349*	Regression Analysis (Spring)
ISQS 6347	Data and Text Mining (Spring)
ISQS 6348	Applied Multivariate Analysis (Fall)
ISQS 6349	Advanced Business Forecasting (NA)
	Other classes in statistics approved by the doctoral adviser

Supporting Field II (Economics)

Students normally take four courses in economics to complement the major area of interest in finance. The two courses marked with an asterisk are strongly recommended as part of those electives.

Approved economics courses (select four)
ECO 5313*	Mathematical Economics I (Fall)
ECO 5314*	Econometrics I (Spring) or AAEC 5307 Econometric Methods (Fall)
ECO 5315	Mathematical Economics II (Spring)
ECO 5316	Time Series Econometrics (Spring)
ECO 5320	Managerial Economics (Fall)
ECO 5323	Monetary Theory I (Fall)
ECO 5324	Seminar in Public Finance (Fall)
ECO 5325	Seminar in Economics Policy (Fall)
ECO 5328	Monetary Theory II (Spring)
ECO 5329	Current Problems in Public Finance (Spring)
ECO 5332	Advanced International Finance (NA)
ECO 5346	Game Theory (NA)
ECO 5381	Empirical Studies in Macroeconomics (Spring)
ECO 5382	Advanced Microeconomics (Fall)
	Other classes in economics approved by the doctoral adviser