Georgetown McDonough School of Business knows you’re in a hurry. So the B-school in the heart of the nation’s capital has announced a new fast-track finance master’s option that gets you the degree in less than half the time.
Applicants to the Master of Science in Finance program at Georgetown McDonough can now graduate in 10 months “without losing any of the academic rigor” that the traditional 21-month and part-time master’s programs are known for, says Allan Eberhart, senior associate dean for the MSF program and professor of finance. Those options will continue to be available, he adds.
“Since its inception, the Georgetown MSF has been designed to meet the needs of a broad range of students,” Eberhart says in a news release from the B-school. “We created this accelerated track to appeal to students whose prior academic training and career interests are more aligned with a 10-month program. While we expect the traditional tracks to be the right choice for the vast majority of our students, we are excited about providing this new option.”
AWAITING MSF GRADS: A NICE PAYDAY
The condensed workload of the new accelerated finance master’s allows students to transition from their degree program to career in less than one year. That’s good news for those who leave the workforce for school, because graduates of Georgetown’s MSF get paid very well. Members of the Class of 2021 reported a comprehensive average base salary of $112,139 and a median base salary of $100,000 — the third year in a row that median base salary remained at the six-figure mark.
Graduates with four years’ experience or more benefit most from a McDonough School MSF, with an average base salary of $120,189, median of $118,000, and bonuses and options worth up to $500,000. These graduates reported receiving a 59% average increase in their base salary between the time of admission and six months after graduation; nearly 80% of them parlayed their new credentials to get a promotion at their current company or to accept a job at another employer.
Even those with less work experience do well post-graduation: According to the school’s latest employment report, grads with three years’ or less experience reported an average base salary of $97,571, a median base of $90,000, and average bonuses of $44,577. One hundred percent of early-career grads were employed within six months of graduation.
“Our dedicated team of career advisors works to meet each student where they are and provide resources and guidance that supports a variety of career options,” says Thomas Stowell, McDonough associate dean for MSF career services and strategic initiatives. “The success that our graduates attain has impressed us and we look forward to working with this new group of students in the accelerated track to achieve similar success.”
The current class profile for Georgetown McDonough’s Master of Science in Finance. Source: Georgetown McDonough
‘AN EXTENSION OF WHAT THE GEORGETOWN MSF DOES BEST’
Of the current members of the McDonough School MSF (see infographic above), 47% are full-time students, who along with their part-time colleagues will henceforth be known as those in “traditional” tracks. They and their colleagues in the new accelerated track “will be seamlessly integrated into a single cohort to encourage camaraderie and co-learning among classmates. This means they all take the first-year courses in the traditional track together,” the school announced; students in the accelerated track will also enroll in courses that students in the traditional tracks take in their second year.
All MSF students at Georgetown McDonough will use the school’s “blended” online learning platform, known as the Blended4 Experience, “which combines asynchronous materials with synchronous weekly MSFLive classes held in the revolutionary Blended Classroom — where students have the option to attend class in-person or online and receive the same educational experience.”
The program is extremely flexible, allowing students to work on course materials “wherever they are in the world and virtually whenever it fits best within their weekly schedules,” says Luke Weichbrod, MSF senior director of operations.
“Only at Georgetown McDonough can students receive such highly interactive learning experiences within a blended online program,” Weichbrod says. “The 10-month option is an extension of what the Georgetown MSF does best — combining a world-class curriculum with extensive support for student success in the classroom and customized career management assistance.”
THE IDEAL CANDIDATE
Eberhart, in an email to Poets&Quants, says the ideal candidate for the MSF is “a recent baccalaureate graduate who majored in finance, or who has extensive prior coursework in finance, or who majored in a quantitatively focused major. The ideal candidate for the accelerated track also has strong internship or work experience and is highly motivated to complete a challenging curriculum in a shorter period of time.”
He adds that the 10-month option is not modeled on programs of similar length at other B-schools.
“We see programs of varying lengths, including 10-month programs,” Eberhart says. “We’re launching our version of a 10-month program — which will have the same rigorous admission standards and the same level of student services and career management support as our traditional track — to make our unique Blended4 experience available to prospective students who are exclusively focused on programs they can complete within a year.”
Georgetown requires applicants to its Master of Science in Finance to submit a Graduate Management Admission Test or Graduate Record Exam score. Total program cost, at $2,451 per credit for 32 credits, is just over $78,000. Learn more about Georgetown’s new 10-month accelerated MSF option here.
DON’T MISS MEET GEORGETOWN McDONOUGH’S MBA CLASS OF 2023 and ‘THRIVING IN A COMPLEX WORLD’: GEORGETOWN’S NEW INITIATIVE & THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS EDUCATION