Career Tracks

The Program for Financial Studies provides a lens through which to view and support the many courses and activities that contribute to students’ financial studies education at Columbia Business School. The table below presents a snapshot of the current MBA curriculum of “8000-level” — elective — courses as they relate to the program’s bridging of theory and practice: the theory is captured by academic tracks (the rows), while the practice is captured by career functions (the columns). Courses in bold provide a foundation for the career function. Students can use this structure to develop a customized curriculum that best addresses their career aspirations.

	Asset Management	Investment Banking and Corporate Finance	Sales, Trading and Research	Financial Consulting	Risk Management
Asset Pricing	Capital Markets; Asset Management; Security Analysis; Value Investing; Behavioral Economics and Decision-Making	Capital Markets	Capital Markets; Behavioral Economics and Decision-Making	Capital Markets; Asset Management	Capital Markets; Security Analysis; Behavioral Economics and Decision-Making
Corporate Finance	Advanced Corporate Finance; Advanced International Corporate Finance; Financial Statement Analysis and Valuation; Earnings Quality and Fundamental Analysis	Advanced Corporate Finance; Advanced International Corporate Finance; Corporate Governance; Financial Statement Analysis and Valuation; Earnings Quality and Fundamental Analysis; Master Class In Mergers & Acquisitions	Advanced Corporate Finance; Advanced International Corporate Finance; Corporate Governance; Financial Statement Analysis and Valuation; Earnings Quality and Fundamental Analysis; Master Class In Mergers & Acquisitions	Advanced Corporate Finance; Advanced International Corporate Finance; Financial Statement Analysis and Valuation; Earnings Quality and Fundamental Analysis; Economics of Strategic Behavior; Game Theory and Incentives in Business; Master Class In Mergers & Acquisition	Risk Management; Advanced Corporate Finance; Advanced International Corporate Finance; Earnings Quality and Fundamental Analysis; Game Theory and Incentives in Business
Financial Institutions	Debt Markets; Derivatives; Entrepreneurial Finance and Private Equity; Real Estate Finance; Psychology and Economics of Consumer Finance	Debt Markets; Derivatives; Banking Fundamentals	Debt Markets; Derivatives; Advanced Derivatives	Banking Fundamentals	Risk Management; Derivatives; Debt Markets; Advanced Derivatives; Banking Fundamentals