Program Description

Program Schedule

September	First Quarter	Second Quarter	Third Quarter
Review Period	Mathematics
	Probability and Stochastics		Economics
	Financial Applications

The first component is the September review period. The intent is to make it possible for students who have been out of college for a time to attend, but we encourage all entering students to attend the review sessions. They cover linear algebra, measure theory, probability, finance, and include some instruction in the software languages and packages used in the program. The review courses are taught prior to the start of the actual program.

Each quarter there are three courses that meet three times per week for three or four hours in the evening. The Mathematics and Probability Theory are taught by faculty members from the Mathematics and Statistics departments respectively. The Economics course is taught by a faculty member from the Department of Economics. The Financial Applications courses are taught by professionals from financial institutions. The contents and curriculum for the program have been worked out jointly by faculty members at the University of Chicago and practitioners in the field to ensure the relevance of the material. The teaching of the program relies heavily on the use of computer simulations to illustrate the material. This is not only to make it possible to cover more material but also to teach students to implement the theory at every stage.

The Program maintains a computer laboratory on the Hyde Park campus, where workstations and necessary software packages are available to students around the clock. This laboratory also permits access to the program's data server, which makes available a large amount of financial tick data. The program has its own server, reserved for students and faculty in the program. Course material and assignments are made available and submitted on-line.

The program is structured to allow part-time enrollment to complete the program over two or three years. Part-time students follow the Mathematics sequence their first year and finish by taking the Financial Application courses; thus to complete the degree over three years a student would take Mathematics in the first year, Probability and Stochastics followed by Economics in the second year, and Financial Applications in the third year.