MS and Certificate Programs

The Computational Finance and Risk Management programs at the University of Washington include the following: a Master of Science degree in Computational Finance & Risk Management (MS-CompFin), a Computational Finance Certificate program, and a Financial Risk Management Certificate program.

Application Deadlines

Application Deadlines for 2012-13 MS Degree

The MS degree program starts on June 18 and the Certificate Programs start on September 24.

Classroom Based MS Degree: March 1, 2012 for international students residing overseas and requiring an F1 visa. Exceptions will be made on a case by case basis requested via email to compfin@uw.edu.

Classroom Based MS Degree: April 15, 2012 for domestic students with U.S. citizenship and international students residing in the U.S. and holding an F1 visa at the end of the 2011-12 academic year.

Online MS Degree: May 1, 2012

NOTE: F1 visas are not granted to non-U.S. citizens enrolled in online educational programs. However, non-US citizens are not required to have an F-1 visa to enroll in the online degree if they reside outside the U.S.

Application Deadline for 2012-13 Certificate Program Autumn Start

Certificate Programs (offered online only): August 31, 2012

Application for the MS-CompFin Program

Who Should Apply

Individuals who apply should hold an undergraduate degree, and optionally a Master's degree in engineering, mathematics or science, with strong mathematics and computing skills and a strong academic record. MBA graduates with exceptionally strong quantitative skills, an ability to develop programming skills, and a very strong academic record are also encouraged apply.

Applicants should have successfully completed a year of calculus through partial differentiation and introductory optimization, a course that covers matrix algebra, a course in probability and statistics using calculus. Applicants should be prepared to brush up on these topics as needed using self-study material.

Academic Year 2012-13 Program Start

The 2012-13 program will start in the summer 2012 session on June 18, 2012 with the offering of AMATH 540 and AMATH 551 over the combined A and B summer terms ending on August 17.

Application to the MS-CompFin Program and UW Graduate School Acceptance

For admission, please apply by filling out the online application with the Graduate School: https://www.grad.washington.edu/applForAdmiss/.

For "Application Type," Masters applicants should select "Graduate"
For "Graduate Program," all applicants please select "Computational Finance and Risk Management".

As with all applications to University of Washington Graduate Degree programs you will need to pay a nonrefundable fee of $75 when applying to the MS-CompFin degree program. The application will list all materials required by the department, and applications can be saved before final submission. After you submit your application and are reviewed by the department, please log back into your application and click on the "status" button to see what further documents are required to complete your UW admission. If you are applying for a Certificate rather than a degree, there is a $50 nonrefundable Certificate program application fee. GNM (Graduate Non-Matriculated) applicants should read the information below.

International students have further final admissions requirements as listed below.

Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

Applicants are required to take the GRE exam. It is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED that interested applicants take the GRE Exam at least 30 days prior to the application deadline to assure their score is reported on a timely basis. More information on the GRE can be found at http://www.ets.org/gre. When taking the test, use 4854 (University of Washington) under Score Report Recipients and 0702 for the department code. Applicants who wish to substitute a (GMAT) may do so.

Individuals who have been out of school for some time may petition for a waiver of the GRE requirement bycontacting compfin@uw.edu. Individuals who have been granted a waiver of the GRE should consider taking one or more of the following refresher courses to be offered during summer 2012: Mathematical Methods for Quantitative Finance, Statistical Methods for Quantitative Finance, and Programming with R. Details concerning these courses will be provided at this web site subsequently.

English Proficiency and International Student Final Admission Requirements

Every applicant whose native language is not English must demonstrate English language proficiency in one of the ways listed in Graduate School Memorandum #8.

International Students may be required to provide further application materials to the Graduate School for final admission, including official transcripts, degree statements, proof of English proficiency, and a Statement of Financial Ability. After you submit your application and are approved by the department, please log back into your application and click on the "status" button. This will tell you what specific things you need to submit to the Graduate School AND provide you access to the Financial Statement of Ability form. Please read the graduate school website regarding these requirements: https://www.grad.washington.edu/admissions/intl-materials.shtml.

International Student I-20 and Visa Application

After all requested materials are filed with the Graduate School, international students will be formally accepted and issued an I-20 and subsequent visa application at the U.S. consulate in your home country from the Graduate School. For further details about registering subsequent to being admitted by UW Graduate School, including obtaining an I-20 and visa, please carefully review the information at the following web site: http://www.grad.washington.edu/admissions/admitted/registration-guide-intl.shtml

Application for a Certificate Program

Who Should Apply

Qualified individuals who do not wish to pursue the MS-CompFin degree, or are initially uncertain about making such a commitment, but wish to obtain valuable computational finance or risk management skills may apply for one of the following two online certificate programs: at the UW Professional and Continuing Education (PCE) web site:

The Computational Finance Certificate
The Financial Risk Management Certificate.
The qualifications are similar to, but less stringent than those of MS-CompFin applicants.

Application Requirements and Process

Applications to the certificate program should be made through the UW Professional and Continuing Education (UWPCE) website. Please see either the Computational Finance Certificate page or the Financial Risk Management Certificate page for further details and the application materials. For more information about the certificate programs, please send an email to eanastasio@pce.uw.edu. NOTE: The preceding PCE pages have not yet been updated to reflect the 2012 Certificate programs. Removal of this note will indicate that the PCE pages have been updated.

Applying Certificate Courses Toward The MS-CompFin Degree

Students will often take one of the above certificate programs with the thought that they may subsequently want to enter the MS-CompFin degree program. Upon successful completion of one of the certificate programs with a strong grade point average (GPA) and acceptance into the MS-CompFin program, such students will be able to apply up to 12 of their course credits toward the MS degree. It is very important that students who have this option in mind apply for UW Graduate Non-Matriculated (GNM) status at the same time they apply for one of the certificate programs. Details are provided in the Applying for GNM Status section.

Single Course Enrollments

Online courses in the MS-CompFin curriculum may be taken on single course enrollment (SCE) basis, provided the student has adequate course pre-requisite experience. Applications for SCE are available through the PCE site using (link to be added soon).

Applying for GNM Status

For information about GNM status, see: http://www.grad.washington.edu/admissions/gnm.shtml.

For admission, please apply by filling out the online application with the Graduate School: https://www.grad.washington.edu/applForAdmiss/

For "Application Type," GNM applicants should select "Graduate Non-Matriculated"
For "Graduate Program," all applicants please select "Computational Finance and Risk Management-Online if you are an online student and Computational Finance & Risk Management if you are taking a residential, classroom section of a CompFIN degree course.".

Course Fees

Computational Finance and Risk Management FY13 fee rates of $900 per credit will apply effective summer quarter 2012. The course fee charges results in a cost of $36,000 for the 40 credit MS degree, $10,800 for the 12 credit CF-Certificate and $10,800 for the 12 credit FRM-Certificate. Other University of Washington service and activity fees are additional and are dependent on the program and courses taken.

Policy on Applying Credits from UW Computational Finance Graduate Certificate (CFGC) Program to MS-CompFin Degree

The fee-based MS degree in Computational Finance and Risk Management (MS-CompFin), offered by the Department of Applied Mathematics in partnership with the University of Washington Professional and Continuing Education (PCE) organization, requires a minimum of 40 fee-based credits. The Computational Finance Graduate Certificate (CFGC) program is for state-tuition-paying Ph.D. students and requires six courses from a prescribed curriculum. A CFGC program student who is accepted into the MS-CompFin degree program may apply up to 12 credits of CFGC courses toward the MS-CompFin degree, provided that such credits are not being double counted according to the University of Washington Graduate School. The remainder of the 40 credits must be earned from fee-based MS-CompFin courses with registration through the University of Washington Professional and Continuing Education (PCE) organization. To be specific with regard to double counting: a course that a student has taken in fulfillment of their graduate program course requirements may not be applied toward the MS-CompFin degree. Petitions to transfer more than 12 credits will be considered on a case-by-case basis if such petition is submitted not later than the end of autumn quarter 2011.