Part-time

CF&RM offers a part-time Master’s degree online. The part-time option is an optimal solution for working professionals to pursue the MS-CF&RM degree while maintaining their current job or other obligations. Part-time students will be able to finish the degree requirements in two-and-a-half years, on average, when taking one course each quarter.

Other MS-CF&RM Degree Program Information

Introduction to MS-CF&RM

The Master of Science in Computational Finance and Risk Management (MS-CF&RM) is designed to address the demand in the financial services industry for advanced quan­titative and computational finance skills, and next generation risk management competencies. Individuals who understand how to manage assets to enhance investment returns while controlling risk are required throughout the world of financial services, as are individuals who understand and can effectively implement financial risk management methods. 

For professionals with strong mathematical and quantitative skills, the MS-CF&RM degree program provides exciting new opportunities for advance­ment in a current or new career pathway in the numerous fields in finance.

What the program covers

  • Rigorous mathematical and statistical foundations of quantitative finance
  • Extensive instruction in use of the open source R-programming environment and rapid growth of cutting edge R finance packages
  • Classical volatility and mean-variance methods of risk analysis and portfolio optimization Modern fat tails and tail risk methods of risk management and portfolio optimization
  • Integration of theory, methods, and computation
  • Separate study pathways in computational finance and risk management as critical focal points in today’s markets

The MS-CF&RM is a Professional MS degree program offered by the Department of Applied Mathematics (AMATH) within the College of Arts and Sciences. It is offered with 3 options: a 42 credit General program option, a 54 credit Risk Management option with extended internship, and a 54 credit Computing option with extended internship. As with other MS and PhD degrees at the University of Washington, the MS-CF&RM degree is awarded by the the Graduate School. Registration and operations for the MS-CF&RM program are handled by the University of Washington Professional and Continuing Education (PCE) organization.

Full-time

CF&RM offers a full-time Master’s degree on campus or online. Full-time students will be able to finish the degree in 18 months on average, including a summer internship. Most full-time students take classroom courses on campus but online is an option for those that prefer the format and flexibility.

If you are considering visiting the University of Washington campus before applying or enrolling please visit us at Lewis Hall as well as stop by the UW Information & Visitors Center.

Part-time

CF&RM offers a part-time Master’s degree online. The part-time option is an optimal solution for working professionals to pursue the MS-CF&RM degree while maintaining their current job or other obligations. Part-time students will be able to finish the degree requirements in two-and-a-half years, on average, when taking one course each quarter.

Online

The University of Washington utilizes a variety of platforms to support active, online learning. These platforms include the Moodle Learning Management System (LMS), the Sonic Foundry’s MediaSite system for class capture, and Adobe Connect Meeting for live, interactive classroom meeting and TA discussions.

Online students utilize all of these platforms to support their learning experience either real-time or on-demand. Classroom students use the Moodle LMS and share the same assignments, resources, and discussion groups with their online peers. Classroom students may also use on-demand recordings of course lectures on the MediaSite class capture system to reinforce their classroom learning experience.

MS-CF&RM Curriculum

 

Required Courses

AMATH 540 (2)

Capital Markets and Data for Computational Finance

 AMATH 544 (4)

Options and Derivatives

AMATH 541 (4)

Investment Science

AMATH 556 (4)
Statistical Models for Computational Finance

AMATH 542 (4)

Financial Data Modeling and Analysis in R

AMATH 558 (4)
Fixed Income Analytics and Portfolio Management

AMATH 543 (4)

Portfolio Optimization and Asset Management

 

 

Elective Courses

AMATH 510 (2)

Financial Data Access with SQL, Excel, and VBA

 AMATH 555 (4)

Optimization Methods in Finance

AMATH 545 (4)

Risk Management I

AMATH 557 (4)
Financial Software Development and Integration with C++

 

AMATH 546 (4)

Risk Management II

AMATH 559 (4)
Stochastic Calculus for Derivatives

AMATH 547 (4)

Credit Risk Management

AMATH 582 (5)

Computational Methods for Data Analysis

AMATH 548 (4)

Monte Carlo Simulation Methods in Finance

AMATH 583 (5)

High Performance Scientific Computing

 

AMATH 551 (3)

Introduction to Trading Systems

 

 
AMATH 552 (2)

Portfolio Performance Analysis and Benchmarking

AMATH 500 (variable credits) Special Studies in Applied Mathematics

AMATH 553 (2)

Financial Time Series Forecasting Methods

AMATH 600 (variable credits) Independent Research or Study

AMATH 554 (2)

Endowment and Institutional Investment Management

AMATH 700 (variable credits, minimum of 9 credits required) Master's Thesis
 

 

MS-CF&RM Pre-Program Courses

The Applied Mathematics Computational Finance and Risk Management program is pleased to announce the following four new MS-CFRM “pre-program” courses:

Pre-Program Courses
AMATH 460 (3)
Mathematical Methods for Quantitative Finance		 AMATH 462 (5)
Introduction to Computational Finance and Financial Econometrics
AMATH 461 (3)
Probability and Statistics for Computational Finance		 AMATH 463 (2)
Foundations of R Programming

 

Course offering times:

AMATH 460: spring and summer quarters 2013
AMATH 461 and AMATH 462: summer quarter 2013
AMATH 463: September three-week early-start September 3 - 24, 2013

 

These University of Washington Applied Mathematics credit courses provide education in fundamentals of mathematics, statistics, financial econometrics and R programming with a view toward application in quantitative and computational finance. Each course will develop competencies needed for entering the MS-CFRM degree program. As such these courses are designed to meet the needs of the following types of individuals: 

 

(a) Individuals who wish to pursue a career in quantitative or computational finance but have been working for some time and need to brush up on one or more of the subject-matter areas.

 

(b) Undergraduate juniors and graduating seniors who to pursue a career in quantitative or computational finance and as such would benefit from the broad range of skills contained in the above courses.

Single Course Enrollments

Each of the above courses can be taken on a single course enrollment (SCE) basis. This option is ideal for individuals in (a) above. To apply for single course enrollment please fill out the application here. 

Certificate in Quantitative Fundamentals of Computational Finance

The three courses AMATH 460, 461, and 462 comprise a UW Professional and Continuing Education (PCE) Certificate in Quantitative Fundamentals of Computational Finance. This Certificate is ideal for individuals in group (b) above. To apply and register for this Certificate program go to http://www.pce.uw.edu/certificates/quantitative-computational-finance.html

Single Course Enrollment

Online courses in the MS-CF&RM curriculum are also offered on a single course enrollment (SCE) basis. Applicants should have adequate course pre-requisite experience. For more information please contact us at 'compfin [at] uw.edu' and indicate SCE and the course title in which you are interested.

R Computing Emphasis

CF&RM makes extensive use of the open source R language and computing environment in its instructional program and in research. We believe that R is an ideal tool for:

  • Financial data modeling and analysis using existing R finance capabilities
  • Rapid development and deployment of new quantitative finance methodology
  • Teaching of standard and cutting-edge quantitative finance methodology

An emphasis on R computing is also made outside of the classroom with CF&RM participation and presence in the annual R/Finance Conference. At the most recent conference in 2012, CF&RM Program Director Doug Martin, Co-Director Eric Zivot, and Instructor Guy Yolling all made presentations.

A brief history of R

Since its introduction in the late 1990's the use of R has grown at a startling rate and R and has emerged as the de facto open source standard for statistical computing, data analysis, and graphics.

R is based on the S language developed by John Chambers at AT&T Bell Labs, with extensive contributions from Rick Becker and a number of Bell Labs colleagues focused on challenging data analysis problems and use of new statistical methodologies. Dr. Chambers received the ACM Software System award of 1998.

The support of the Statistical Research group that was located in the Bell Labs Mathematics Research Center located in Murray Hill, NJ, combined with the overall research environment at Bell Labs prior to the AT&T divestiture, provided a unique and ideal setting for the development and rapid evolution of S.

Much of the initial growth in the development and use of R can be attributed to the success of the S-PLUS product which was a commercial implementation of the S language by Statistical Sciences, Inc. (a company founded by CompFin Program Director Doug Martin).

Robert Gentleman and Ross Ihaka received the 2010 American Statistical Association Statistical Computing and Graphics Award for their work in initiating the R Project for Statistical Computing.

Further resources

  • For a brief overview of R, it’s history, and an introduction to R programming, see "Introduction to R" by Guy Yollin 

  • Further information and to download R, visit www.r-project.org

Seminars and Networking Activities

CF&RM hosts guest lecturers in the field of computational finance and risk management in speaking opportunities. For a list of guest lectures and other events open to the public, please see our Calendar for upcoming seminars as well as our Seminars page to review past lectures.

To facilitate internship and career placement, CF&RM offers career preparation, professional networking, and industry events exclusively for its students. Though these are not open to the public, prospective students can see some of our past events on the CF&RM Facebook page.