PhD Program
The Ph.D. program in finance prepares students to pursue research and teaching careers at institutions of higher learning or research careers in government and business. In order to properly train students, the Ph.D. program consists of courses in three areas: finance, economics, and quantitative methods (statistics and econometrics). Students completing the curriculum have solid training in financial economics. The Ph.D. finance program instills in students the capability to:
- Understand prevalent research in the major functional areas of finance,
- Identify opportunities for research in finance,
- Effectively conduct state-of-the-art financial research, and
- Communicate financial principles to audiences consisting of students, peers, faculty, and business professionals.
The Ph.D. program requires that a student demonstrate advanced knowledge about the functional areas of finance, a minor area, and research methods. In addition, the student must demonstrate research competence by completing a dissertation representing a significant contribution to human knowledge.
Students accepted into the program are not required to have obtained an undergraduate degree in business. Before commencing the program, however, the student is advised to have completed the undergraduate equivalent of courses in accounting, statistics, calculus, economics, and finance. Students lacking a strong foundation in economics, finance, or mathematics, or if they have been out of school for a long time, are advised to take electives in these subjects prior to taking the upper level courses.
Please send any inquiries and letters of recommendation to:
Ph.D Program Director - Finance
c/o Debra Wheatley
Dept. of Economics, Finance and Legal Studies
The University of Alabama
Box 870224
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0224
(205) 348-6683
dwheatle@cba.ua.edu