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CFA® Program: MS in Finance

Advising one-pager · MSFI, 2026-27 graduate catalog · Gatton College, September 2026

Download the printable PDF Updated 2026-09-29

What it is

The professional credential for investment management, the work of research analysts and portfolio managers at funds, pensions, and other institutions: three sequential exams (Level I tools and ethics, II asset valuation, III portfolio management), roughly 300 hours of study each, plus 4,000 hours of qualifying work experience. Pass rates run below half at each level. The MSF and the CFA cover much of the same ground, which is why Gatton’s MSF is a CFA Institute Affiliated University program.

Timing

You already hold a bachelor’s degree, so you are eligible for Level I now, with no waiting period and no graduation-month rule. Most students who sit during the degree take Level I in the first year and Level II after finishing. Ask about the affiliated-university scholarship before you register at full price.

How the MSF maps

The MSF is 30 credit hours: ten courses chosen from a list, with no required courses. So the ten you pick decide how much of the exam you have already seen in class.

A CFA-aligned ten

FIN 600 Corporate Financial Policy ⋅ ACC 621 Understanding Financial Statements ⋅ FIN 688 Financial Analytics Tools ⋅ FIN 650 Investments ⋅ FIN 645 Corporate Investment and Financing Policy ⋅ FIN 675 Fixed Income Securities and Markets ⋅ FIN 652 Options, Futures, and Derivatives ⋅ FIN 664 Real Estate Finance ⋅ FIN 680 Money, Interest and Capital ⋅ FIN 685 Investments Practicum

That is all ten, and it touches every exam topic. Ethics rides on FIN 600, so if you drop that one, work the CFA Institute ethics material on your own. Swaps: FIN 670 for FIN 652 if you want risk management rather than pricing, FIN 686 to stay in the practicum a second term, FIN 630 Financial Modeling and Analysis if you arrive without modeling skills. Courses move between terms and not all run every year, so build your ten with the director.

What Gatton offers

• CFA Institute University Affiliation for the MS in Finance and the BBA in Finance. Affiliated programs receive student scholarships that cut the exam cost; apply through the principal contact.
• Real-money portfolio management (FIN 685, FIN 686): students manage part of Gatton’s Student Managed Investment Fund, now over $6 million, drawn from the University endowment, and present to the endowment committee.
• The CFA Institute Research Challenge, the Stock Pitch Competition, and Bloomberg certification.
• The MSF is a STEM-designated degree, so international students are eligible for three years of OPT.

Start early through AMP. The Accelerated Master’s Pathways let Accounting, Finance and Marketing majors take MSF courses as undergraduate electives and count up to 12 graduate hours, four of the ten above, toward both degrees at undergraduate tuition. Requires a 3.0, 60 earned hours with 15 left, and an approved Intent Form before you enroll.
Admission. A bachelor’s degree in any field with a 2.75 GPA or better. No GMAT or GRE. The degree needs a 3.0 GPA across the ten courses.
Principal contact: Will Gerken, CFA, will.gerken@uky.edu ⋅ Program director: Igor Cunha, igor.cunha@uky.edu ⋅ Course list and requirements from the 2026-27 UK Graduate Catalog (Finance, MSFI); topic mapping follows Gatton’s filed CFA course map.

A general guide, not official advising. Compiled from publicly posted UK catalog and curriculum pages; requirements change and no warranty is given. Confirm your plan with your academic advisor and your myUK GPS degree audit.

Which sheet? Wealth management or financial planning: CFP. Investment research or portfolio management: CFA. Investment banking or private equity: Investment Banking. Real estate lending, investment, or development: Real Estate. Students can combine them. All sheets: willgerken.com/roadmaps