
Master’s programme in Finance
MSc in Finance | 1 year | 60 credits
Admission requirements
Academic requirements
An undergraduate degree (BA/BSc) and at least 90 ECTS credits in business administration and/or economics which must include a course in basic microeconomics (can be part of a course in basic economics), a course in intermediate finance, and a course in econometrics or statistics.
Recommended prior knowledge
The programme requires students to have a basic knowledge of finance and statistics upon admission. We therefore strongly recommend that students have prior knowledge of the following:
- Finance, including net present value, risk and return, diversification, asset pricing, market efficiency, cost of equity, weighted average cost of capital, forwards, futures, swaps, options, hedging, capital structure, dividend policy, information asymmetry, agency costs, interest rates, and exchange rates.
- Financial accounting, including the structure and format of financial statements, analysis and interpretation of accounts, profit measurement, the cost and revenue concepts, and ratio analysis of financial statements.
- Mathematics, including algebraic rules, solving single and multiple equations, solving quadratic equations, polynomials, exponential function and (natural) logarithms, rules of differentiation, and finding extreme values for a function.
- Microeconomics, including expected utility, preferences, risk aversion, rational choice, market equilibrium, elasticity, and perfect competition. A course in intermediate microeconomics is recommended.
- Statistics, including descriptive statistics, probability, normal distribution, random sampling, hypothesis testing, correlation, and regression analysis.
English language requirements
Strong English language communication skills are crucial to gain the full benefit of this programme.
What are our minimum requirements?
The English language entry requirement is the equivalent of English studies at upper secondary level in Sweden (gymnasium), called English 6/English Course B.
For international students, this can be demonstrated in various ways. You can demonstrate that you meet the English language requirement through certain upper secondary (high school) studies, certain university studies, or an internationally approved English test.
We prefer candidates to take the IELTS test where possible. We accept the following tests and minimum scores:
- IELTS score of 6.5 (with no section less than 5.5)
- TOEFL paper-based score of 4.5 (scale 1-6) in written test and a total score of 575
- TOEFL internet based score of 20 (scale 0-30) in written test and a total score of 90
Find out more about the English language requirements at Lund University’s international website
Selection to this programme
We normally look for undergraduates with excellent results from an internationally recognised university. Selection is based on academic merits from university studies (100%). This implies that an assessment will be made of the grades from previous studies at the undergraduate level. In the assessment, special weight will be given to grades on courses that prepare students for the curriculum of this study programme. We also take into account the standing of the institution where you studied your qualification.