III. Master of Science Programs

A plan of study must be submitted and approved by the department and the Graduate School before the semester in which the student expects to receive the degree. It is desirable that the plan of study be submitted electronically by the end of the second semester of graduate study. A plan of study will not be accepted if it contains courses with a large overlap in content. Subsequent requests for changes in the plan of study must be submitted electronically and approved by the advisor, Graduate Office, and the Graduate School. The Plan of Study Generator (POSG) may be accessed via the mypurdue portal (see section X). The master's advisory committee consists of faculty with whom a student has had classes or faculty approved by the Graduate Office.

The completion of an approved plan of study, with all grades of A or B with the possible exception of at most two grades of C, and a grade point average of at least 3.00 is required for the M.S. degree. A minimum of 30 hours of course credits is required for the M.S. degree. The average time for completion of this degree is two years for a student holding a half-time assistantship and not transferring credits. For a half-time assistant whose performance is satisfactory, a time limit of four semesters and the intervening summer session is usually imposed for completion of the M.S. degree with continuation of departmental support.

The Computational Finance option requires 34 hours of course credits. See III.(D).

Examples of Plans of Study

1. For a student in pure mathematics, the plan of study should include complex analysis MA 530 (or 525), real analysis MA 504-544 (or 544-545), algebra MA 553-554 (or 557-558), topology MA 571 (or 572), and either logic MA 585 or one course for which some of the courses above are prerequisites.
2. For a student in applied mathematics who wishes to continue toward a Ph.D. degree after the M.S. degree, the plan of study should include complex analysis MA 530, real analysis MA 544, algebra MA 553-554, partial differential equations MA 523 (or MA 642 or 643), methods of applied mathematics MA 611 and numerical analysis (one of CS 514, 515, 614, 615).\
3. For a student in applied mathematics not planning to continue on to the Ph.D. degree, the plan of study should include complex analysis MA 530 (or 525), real analysis MA 544 (or 504), linear algebra MA 554 (or 511), probability theory MA 519, partial differential equations MA 523 and numerical analysis CS 514 (or CS 515, or CS 614 or CS 615). In addition, at least two of the remaining four courses required for the degree should provide depth in a specific area. Possible options for these four courses are as follows:
   1. Mathematical Methods and Applications. Courses selected from mathematics (e.g. 533, 542, 611, 620, 626).
   2. Numerical Analysis. MA 611 and courses selected from MA 524, CS 515, 614, 615, A & AE 516.
   3. Statistics. Courses selected from STAT 528, 529, 532, 538, 553, 554, or 576 (statistical theory). Courses selected from STAT 512, 514, 520, 522, or 524 (applied statistics).
   4. Discrete Mathematics. Courses selected from MA 518, 553, 575, 585, CS 580.
   5. Operations Research. MA 521 and courses selected from MA 620, IE 535, 537, 538, MA/STAT 532.

Other combinations of courses are possible, and substitutions in course requirements and the transfer of credits from other universities may be permitted with the permission of the Graduate Committee.

4. Mathematics Degree with Specialization in Computational Finance (CF), 34 credit hours. Two-year intensive program.
   1. Group I: Required Math Courses (excluding Math Finance) (15 credit hrs)
      • Probability and Analysis: MA/STAT 519, and MA 544 or [MA 504 and MA 538]
      • Linear Algebra: MA 554 or MA 511
      • Partial Differential Equations: MA 523
      • Methods of Applied Mathematics: 3 or more credits from the following list: MA 611, CS 514, CS 515, CS 614, CS 615, STAT 528 or STAT 525
   2. Group II: Required Core CF courses (16 credit hrs)
      • Mathematics of Finance: MA 515
      • Advanced Probability, Options, and Numerical Methods: STAT 516
      • Simulation Design and Analysis: IE 581 or Introduction to Computational Statistics STAT 598 G

        and 7 or more credit hours approved by the CF committee from the following list:

      • Financial Management I: MGMT 610 (3 cr.)
      • Options and Futures: MGMT 641 (2 cr.)
      • Security Analysis: MGMT 642 (2 cr.)
      • Financial Risk Management: MGMT 643 (2 cr.)
      • Portfolio Management: MGMT 614 (2 cr.)
      • Spreadsheet Modeling and Simulation: MGMT 690S/570 (2 cr.)
      • Seminar in Financial Markets: MGMT 616 (3 cr.)
      • Seminar in Financial Markets: MGMT 617 (3 cr.)
      • Design and Analysis of Financial Algorithms: STAT 598 W (3 cr.)
      • Venture Capital And Investment Banking: MGMT 644 (2 cr.)
   3. Group III: Elective courses (3 credit hrs) 3 or more credit hours of courses related to CF and approved by the CF committee.
      These can be courses from any department or school. The CF advisor will help students make a selection.

   Possible departments to choose from include: Management, Economics, Statistics, Computer Science, Agricultural Economics, and Industrial Engineering.

   Possible topics include: Advanced finance seminar, Portfolio management, Security analysis, Macroeconomics, International monetary problems, Financial time series, Bayesian statistics in finance, and Monte-Carlo methods.

   A typical degree plan for the MS degree in Mathematics with CF specialization will look like this: MA 511, MA 519, MA 523, MA 544, STAT 525, MA 515, MA 516, IE 581, MGMT 610, MGMT 614, MGMT 643, ECON 608.

5. The following courses are NOT electives for the above programs: MA 510, 520, 527, 528, 560.