Brandeis International Business School

Programs > MA > Core Curriculum

Core Curriculum

Focusing on Business, Economics and Finance

students in classroom

Our Master of Arts in International Economics and Finance (MA) program options feature an innovative curriculum designed around our core strengths in business, economics and finance. 

Key Elements

  • Develop analytical skills needed to understand forces driving the global economy
  • Gain an ability to apply skills and expertise to real-world trends and challenges
  • Experience our expansive Bloomberg Lab, one of the largest in the Boston area, to learn financial modeling and analysis

Curriculum and Timeline

The MA program is two years in length and requires 64 credits. One of the four semesters in the program may be spent studying abroad. Students have the opportunity to take courses at other institutions in the area in related fields. The core courses below account for 35-37 credits, but students may exempt from select core courses by demonstrating competence in those areas.
Program Requirements
Core Requirements (39-41 credits)
  • ECON 202a: Applied International Macro (4 credits)
  • ECON 207a: Managerial Economics (4 credits)
  • ECON 210a: Intro to Probability and Statistics for Business and Economics (4 credits)
  • ECON 213a: Applied Econometrics with R (4 credits)
  • FIN 203a Financial Management (4 credits)
  • FIN 204a Corporate Finance Theory and Practice (4 credits) or FIN 205a Investments and Portfolio Management (4 credits)
  • FIN 212a: Accounting and Financial Analysis or FIN 213a Intermediate Accounting (4 credits)
  • BUS 224g: Launching Your Global Career (1 credit)
  • ECON 260a: International Trade Policy and Institutions (4 credits) - Students who pursue a concentration in Data Analytics, Financial Economics, Marketing or Real Estate Finance may substitute a concentration elective course for ECON 260a, International Trade Policy. This is a required course for students who choose the Economic Analysis and Consulting concentration.
  • Practicum: Students choose one of the following courses:
    • BUS 286a: Applications of System Dynamics (4 credits)
    • BUS 294a: Data Analytics Field Project (4 credits)
    • FIN 293a: Finance Field Project (4 credits)
    • FIN 292a Finance Internship (4 credits)
    • BUS 292a: Marketing Field Project (4 credits)
    • BUS 295a: Field Project: Social Impact Innovation (4 credits)
    • BUS 293a: Real Estate Field Project (4 credits)
    • BUS 296a Data Analytics Internship (4 credits)
    • BUS 297c: Leadership Internships in Social Impact Organizations (4 credits)
  • Software Proficiency Requirement
    Students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in a software beyond STATA and R. This can be satisfied by successfully earning credit in the approved list of courses below or via project:
    • Advanced Stata (successful completion of ECON 261a)
    • Tableau (successful completion of BUS 240f)
    • Python (successful completion of FIN 285a or BUS 215f Python and Applications to Business Analytics)
    • Advanced Python (successful completion of BUS/FIN 241a)
    • Advanced R (successful completion of BUS 212a)
    • SQL (successful completion of BUS 211a)
    • ARGUS (demonstrate in a course/project)
    • SPSS (successful completion of BUS 253a)
    • Advanced R (successful completion of BUS 256a or ECON/FIN 250a or ECON 261a)
  • Elective credits (23-25 credits) - Concentration credits apply to elective credits.
Sample Course Plan
Fall 1 (17 credits)
  • ECON 207a: Managerial Economics (4 credits)
  • ECON 210a: Intro to Probability and Statistics for Business and Economics (4 credits)
  • FIN 203a: Financial Management (4 credits)
  • FIN 212a: Accounting and Financial Analysis (4 credits) OR Fin 213a: Intermediate Accounting (4 credits)
  • BUS 224g: Launching Your Global Career (1 credit)
Spring 1 (16 credits)
  • ECON 202a: Applied International Macroeconomics (4 credits)
  • ECON 213a: Applied Econometrics with R (4 credits)
  • ECON 260a: International Trade Policy OR a concentration-specific elective (4 credits)
  • FIN 205a Investments and Portfolio Management or Concentration or General Elective credits (4 credits)

Fall 2 (16 credits)

  • Software Proficiency beyond R — see other requirements below
  • FIN 204a Corporate Finance Theory and Practice (4 credits) - optional if already took Fin 205a previous spring.
  • Concentration or general electives (10-14 credits)

Spring 2 (16 credits)

  • Practicum — see other requirements below
  • Concentration or general electives (12-14 credits)
Concentrations and Electives

The MA program requires 32 elective credits. These electives allow students to deepen their learning in specific areas. Students may count any 200-level course in Economics, Business or Finance as an elective. MA students may also petition to have coursework from other graduate Brandeis programs count toward the degree in related fields such as policy, data analysis, mathematics or programming.


MA students are encouraged to use 16-20 of their elective credits to complete one of five concentrations.