The Department of Finance’s doctoral program prepares students for a future career in research and teaching.  In addition to PhD seminars in finance, all finance PhD students take courses in advanced economics, econometrics, statistical methods, and mathematics.   Students frequently take courses through the Department of Risk Management and Insurance at Georgia State University and cross-register for courses at Emory University and Georgia Tech.  Depending on their interests, students often take courses in game theory, contract theory, the theory of risk and uncertainty, the theory of Insurance, stochastic processes, and industrial organization.  The Finance department also has an active seminar series in which faculty, PhD students, and scholars from other universities present working papers based on their research.

 Students must pass a first-year examination on finance and a comprehensive examination at the completion of coursework (after the fall semester of the third year).  We also require students to produce a research paper, which they present to the faculty, by the end of their second year.  Students must defend a dissertation proposal within one year of passing the comprehensive exams.  Students should enter the academic job market at the beginning of the fifth year and complete the requirements for the PhD within five years.

 In addition to coursework, we expect students to actively engage in research with faculty members. The Finance Department has a history of co-authorship between faculty and PhD students.  Many students obtain their first academic publication as a result of collaborating with faculty.