MBA Finance vs MS Finance: Education ONLY

What is the difference in the educational content between an MBA with a major in Finance and an American MSF like Villanova, Vandy, etc.?

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MBA is a Business graduate degree. You can concentrate in a number of subjects, finance being one. Since MBA students come from a variety of backgrounds, the classes tend to be at a more broader level so everyone can follow along. As you move up in classes, they become more difficult.

Remember back to your UG. Finance 101 compared to 400 level classes.

MSF is a finance graduate degree. Usually 30 credit hours, mainly all in finance (although when I did mine I took a grad class in statistics). You are focusing specifically on a subject vs. simply majoring in a subject.

Educationally, if you only want to learn about finance, the MSF is better. But neither of these degrees are needed to work in finance. And people pursue each one for different reasons.

 

In general, yes. But the MSF is covering pieces of each exam. And different MSF programs allow you to focus on Asset Management, investment banking, corporate finance, real estate, etc. So slightly different.

The MSF is a degree program from a university. The CFA is a designation from an institute. Different things, although they share similarity in content.

 

You get an analyst job out of msf and an associate job out of MBA. No big difference in classes. CFA gets you the same if not more quant training without a degree badge.

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