2023 QuantNet Rankings of Financial Engineering (MFE) Programs

[Andy Nguyen]

We are pleased to announce the publication of the QuantNet 2023 Rankings of Financial Engineering programs.

The full 2023 QuantNet MFE ranking is here. For comparison, the 2022 QuantNet MFE ranking is here.

New in 2023 QuantNet MFE ranking

• New programs added: Oklahoma State University (Quantitative Finance) and Rutgers University (Financial Statistics and Risk Management)
• Employment rate 3 months after Graduation (US only): Percentage of graduates seeking employment who were employed in the US 3 months after graduation.
• Average starting salary plus sign-on bonus (US only). These data points are helpful for prospective students who are interested in jobs in the US.
• We added students reviews to the ranking in an effort to encourage more students to share their experience about quality of each program.

 

[MMFInfoAcct]

Just for fun, I'm interested in what people think the top 10 2023 QN rankings will be before it officially comes out in ~12 hours.
Here's my guess (not quite in the order of what I think the best programs are, but in the order that I'm guessing QN would choose) :
1) Princeton MFin
2) CMU MSCF
3) Baruch MFE
4) Berkeley MFE
5) Columbia MFE
6) MIT MFin
7) NYU Courant
8) NYU Tandon
9) Cornell MFE
10) Chicago MFE

 

[SD_]

The order that I think QN would post is
1) Baruch MFE
2) Berkeley MFE
3) Princeton MFin
4) CMU MSCF
5) Columbia MFE
6) NYU Courant
7) Columbia MAFN
8) Cornell MFE
9) UChicago FinMath
10) NYU Tandon

 

[MMFInfoAcct]

The order that I think QN would post is
1) Baruch MFE
2) Berkeley MFE
3) Princeton MFin
4) CMU MSCF
5) Columbia MFE
6) NYU Courant
7) Columbia MAFN
8) Cornell MFE
9) UChicago FinMath
10) NYU Tandon

oh interesting to see MIT MFin not making this cut - I heard of several people in that program with QR offers from Jump Trading and the likes, so the top end of the program is potentially >= quite a few of the top 5 (although it's true QN only cares about average rather than the top quantile)

 

[SD_]

I mean an MFE degree with accounting as a CORE module. This program should be either considered by QuantNet (for MFE) or FT (for MFin post experience). Not both, in my opinion.

 

[JimSim]

My predictions!

1. Baruch (coz QuantNet)
2. MIT (Best placements ever! Beat Princeton, Berkeley, CMU hands down! More than half the batch moving directly to buyside. Great team)
3. CMU (good courses, good profs, good placements what more needed)
4. Princeton (no explanation needed)
5. NYU Courant (buy side love)
6. Columbia MFE (good crop of students this time)
7. Cornell MFE (fantastic placements)
8. Berkeley (Linda has gone, student quality also bad. Many students being forced to work at startups after getting no good offers)
9. NYU MFE
10. Columbia MAFN

 

[Andy Nguyen]

The 2023 QuantNet MFE ranking has been released. Please see the link to the ranking.
Please let us know your comments on the 2023 rankings, and things you like to see in future rankings.

 

[WorkofArt]

8. Berkeley (Linda has gone, student quality also bad. Many students being forced to work at startups after getting no good offers)

May I ask where you got this info from? Doesn't seem too accurate, "forced to work at startups" is based on the assumption that the students are not interested in the role. Was this firsthand information from current students or LinkedIn searches?
Also, Linda being gone is not so detrimental to the program. Yes, she was the reason the program is as good as it is now, but she's left a very good foundation for others to carry forward. The current team is doing an excellent job of matching students' interests to their jobs.
By no means is the program perfect. There are shortcomings, but your statement discredits the work of the new career placement team that's been working extremely hard.

 

[MAama]

Congratulations Andy on another year of highly anticipated rankings. I want to thank you for inviting the Rutgers FSRM program to participate this year (where I am its managing director). Even though our program is listed NR, I am glad to highlight that FSRM was among the 14 out of 29 with 100% employment rate 3-month after graduation and among the 7 out of 29 with 100% US employment within 3-month of graduation. The last statistic is a very useful addition to this year’s ranking as you alluded to in your comment above.

I would also like to request an additional metric for future rankings as it would give enormous context to salary information. The 29 programs listed above have vastly different incoming class profiles in terms of average full-time work experience. Graduates with 4+ years of full-time work experience in finance for example, all else equal, will command a higher salary (and signing bonus) than a graduate with zero full-time experience, pretty much regardless of which program attended. Having a column with average number of years of full-time experience for the cohort ranked would be of great help to prospective applicants and will set proper expectations of being admitted to a certain program, and of expected salary after graduation.

Best,
Mohannad

 

[JimSim]

May I ask where you got this info from? Doesn't seem too accurate, "forced to work at startups" is based on the assumption that the students are not interested in the role. Was this firsthand information from current students or LinkedIn searches?
Also, Linda being gone is not so detrimental to the program. Yes, she was the reason the program is as good as it is now, but she's left a very good foundation for others to carry forward. The current team is doing an excellent job of matching students' interests to their jobs.
By no means is the program perfect. There are shortcomings, but your statement discredits the work of the new career placement team that's been working extremely hard.

This info is widely known! Just take a look on LinkedIn.

I told "forced to work at startups" because no student joining MFE program would want to do bad data analytics work in some startup! Why that student not joined MS Data Analytics or MS Data Science then? SHOWS REALITY!

 

[SD_]

MFE Placement Report | MFE | Berkeley Haas

In the Berkeley MFE employment report, see financial engineering career trends, hiring trends, and salary data for recent graduates.

mfe.haas.berkeley.edu

I would want to know how many were "forced" to work in a start-up

 

[WorkofArt]

This info is widely known! Just take a look on LinkedIn.

I told "forced to work at startups" because no student joining MFE program would want to do bad data analytics work in some startup! Why that student not joined MS Data Analytics or MS Data Science then? SHOWS REALITY!

Even if this were true, it's a few ( < 3) students in a class of 80. It doesn't tell the entire picture. We've had great internship placements this time, so I don't know how "it's widely known".

 

[WorkofArt]

MFE Placement Report | MFE | Berkeley Haas

In the Berkeley MFE employment report, see financial engineering career trends, hiring trends, and salary data for recent graduates.

mfe.haas.berkeley.edu

I would want to know how many were "forced" to work in a start-up

None, as far as I know. And this is firsthand information from a current student.
First of all, working at a startup might not be favorable to you, but there are people who want to make that choice. It's no one's place to judge how someone should progress with their career.
Second, just because someone chose a data science role doesn't mean they were "forced" into it. People come with aspirations of tech facing roles to Berkeley given the proximity and connections to the valley.

 

[MMFInfoAcct]

I might be missing something here, but something is not adding up to me : how can a program have a super high 3 month employment rate, but then a low 3 month US employment rate (like Columbia MAFN)

 

[WorkofArt]

I might be missing something here, but something is not adding up to me : how can a program have a super high 3 month employment rate, but then a low 3 month US employment rate (like Columbia MAFN)

"Employment rate 3 months after Graduation (US only): Percentage of graduates seeking employment who were employed in the US 3 months after graduation"
Probably due to international offers and students moving outside of the US

 

[SD_]

I might be missing something here, but something is not adding up to me : how can a program have a super high 3 month employment rate, but then a low 3 month US employment rate (like Columbia MAFN)

Maybe the students were placed outside the US, in places such as Singapore, HK, etc..

 

[MMFInfoAcct]

Hmm I understand that but I'm pretty shocked 42% of Columbia MAFN is working internationally (especially because most internationals do a MFE specifically for the OPT/CPT to work in the states..)

And am I interpretating it correctly that Columbia MFE have 0 people working internationally since employment rate 3 month after grad = employment rate 3 month after grad US only

 

[Michelle]

And am I interpretating it correctly that Columbia MFE have 0 people working internationally since employment rate 3 month after grad = employment rate 3 month after grad US only

Interesting. Looks like they are an outlier. Would be good to get some direct answer from them or anyone familiar with their employment stats.

 

[micawberw]

Any chance of an EU-ranking for 2023?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Any chance of an EU-ranking for 2023?

Will let you know if we have something to announce. Hopefully soon.