NC State's Master of Financial Mathematics (MFM) is a 36 credit hour, STEM-designated professional master's degree in Raleigh, North Carolina, that full-time students can finish in as few as three semesters. Its fall dates run from a December 31 scholarship date to a March 1 final deadline for international applicants and June 1 for domestic applicants, and the GRE is optional.
I'm Fiona Taft, founder and CEO of QuantMinds, former Executive Director of UC Berkeley's MFE program and former Associate Director at Stanford University. Program details come from the program's official pages at NC State, checked November 2026. For the advice that applies to every program, see my guide on how to choose a quant master's program.
NC State MFM at a glance
| Detail | NC State MFM |
|---|---|
| Degree | Master of Financial Mathematics, a Professional Science Master's |
| Home | Financial Mathematics program, NC State College of Sciences, Raleigh, North Carolina |
| Length | 36 credit hours, as little as three semesters full time |
| Start term | Fall. Spring applicants are considered |
| Director | Dr. Tao Pang |
| Tests | GRE optional, GMAT may be considered in its place, GRE preferred |
| Fall deadlines | December 31 for scholarship consideration, January 31 preferred, then March 1 final for international applicants and June 1 final for domestic applicants |
| Tuition, 2026-27 | $11,532.25 a semester for North Carolina residents and $22,500.75 for nonresidents, at 9 or more credit hours |
The program's page lists its deadlines without a year. For a Fall 2027 start, I read them as the dates in the 2026-27 admissions cycle shown above, so confirm each one on the program's admissions page before you plan around it. I couldn't find a published class size or applicant count.
Admission requirements
NC State says successful applicants have majored in mathematics, economics, finance, business, computer science, data science, physics and engineering, and it has also admitted applicants who already hold doctorates and master's degrees. The program asks for the following.
- Official transcripts from every university you attended, showing at least six semesters of undergraduate coursework.
- Three academic or professional recommendations. Past or current professors, supervisors and managers all count.
- A personal statement of one or two pages.
- A resume or CV.
- Proof of English for international applicants and permanent residents, by TOEFL, IELTS or Duolingo, unless you qualify for an exemption under the Graduate School's rules.
- GRE scores, if you choose to send them. They're valid for five years.
A US bachelor's degree needs a minimum 3.0 GPA to be considered. The program says past successful applicants averaged about 3.5, or above 80% cumulative average for international transcripts. Its FAQ says the 3.0 cutoff applies only to US transcripts, and that international applicants shouldn't convert their grades to a 4.0 scale.
On math, the program recommends calculus and linear algebra and strong exposure to probability and statistics. Its FAQ points applicants to the catalog descriptions for MA 405, MA 421, ST 311, ST 350, ST 370 and ST 371 to compare against courses they've taken elsewhere. If your degree is unrelated, a strong grade in any of those subjects is taken into account. Work experience isn't required. If you want to check your own preparation, here's the math you actually need to break into quant finance.
The program doesn't pre-screen applicants and won't review an incomplete application. It reviews on a rolling basis, and says it typically releases Fall decisions from mid-February through early May, with wait-list decisions by mid-June.
What's distinctive
The degree is 36 credit hours, made up of 21 core and 15 elective hours. Every 3-credit core course has to be passed with a B or better.
- First fall. Options and Derivatives Pricing, Fundamentals of Statistical Inference I, and a Career Development for Quants seminar.
- Spring. Stochastic Calculus for Finance, Fundamentals of Statistical Inference II, Monte Carlo Methods for Financial Mathematics, and a one credit seminar.
- Summer. A required one credit internship in financial mathematics.
- Second fall. A second seminar session plus electives. The final semester's credits vary with what you took earlier.
The summer is built around the internship. Students who don't hold one work full time for 10 to 12 weeks on projects from industry sponsors under an industry mentor, and present them to alumni and industry guests. The career services page lists sponsors on past projects, including Bank of America, Truist, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley. It also describes weekly career workshops, interview practice and 1:1 career counseling, and the FAQ says admitted Spring students should meet one-on-one with the Career Services director.
The program also runs a three-week summer preparation workshop covering math, statistics and R, econometrics, risk management and Python. The 2026 session ran July 27 to August 14. New MFM students paid $2,295 and general registration was $2,595. Dates for 2027 weren't posted yet, and the workshop page says to check back in June.
A few rules worth knowing.
- STEM. The program says it qualifies for the STEM OPT extension, and most students on F-1 visas use Curricular Practical Training for a paid internship while enrolled.
- Spring starts. The program is built around a Fall start and most core courses aren't offered every term, so Spring students begin out of sequence and may need four semesters. International Spring students may not qualify for a first summer internship until their second summer.
- Part time. Full-time status needs 9 credit hours, and domestic students can enroll part time.
Cost and funding
NC State's 2026-27 graduate rates list the MFM on its own line. At 9 or more credit hours a semester, tuition, a program increment and required fees total $11,532.25 for North Carolina residents and $22,500.75 for nonresidents. Health insurance is billed on top unless you waive it, and the university's optional premium plan is $2,366.50 a semester. Rates change each year.
The program's fellowship page says four to eight Financial Mathematics Fellowships of $2,500 to $7,500 are awarded, plus two Wells Fargo Fellowships of $4,000 and two Recruiting Fellowships of $2,000 for US citizens and permanent residents. The FAQ calls these supplemental, not meant to fund tuition. It says the program offers no assistantships, though students have found teaching and grading roles in other departments.
Careers and outcomes
On its employment page, the program reports for 2022 to 2025 graduates an average starting salary of $113,000, an average sign-on bonus of $12,000 and 100% employment six months after graduation. The same page lists employers that have hired students, including Bank of America, Fidelity, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, State Street and Wells Fargo, and job titles such as Quantitative Researcher, Risk Analyst and Data Scientist. The home page says graduates become quantitative analysts, traders, portfolio and investment managers, risk data engineers, data scientists and catastrophe risk modelers. Its home page quotes a slightly different salary figure ($112,000 and a $13,000 bonus), so I've used the dated employment page. Read the job titles against the path you want. My guide to the three main paths is QR, QT or QD.
How I'd approach the application
Start with the role you want, then check whether this curriculum points at it. The core here is derivatives pricing, statistics, stochastic calculus and Monte Carlo, with a required internship or industry project. If that matches the jobs you're chasing, say so in your personal statement, with the specific courses.
Check your math before you apply, not after. The program says it expects applicants to be well prepared, and it uses the personal statement to explain low grades or a change of field. If you have a weak spot, name it and show what you've done about it.
Apply when your file is complete. An incomplete application is automatically denied by the Graduate School, and recommenders and test scores are the usual culprits. The program's priority dates for scholarships and the preferred date are a reason to finish early.
Frequently asked questions
Is the GRE required for NC State's Financial Mathematics program?
No. The program calls it optional, though it says a strong score can help and that complete applications may have an advantage. It may consider a still-valid GMAT instead, but says the GRE is preferred.
Can I start the NC State MFM in the spring?
Yes, qualified applicants are considered. The page's Spring dates (October 15 domestic, July 15 international) have passed for Spring 2027 entry, so the next chance is Spring 2028, and the program hasn't posted those dates with a year. Fall is the program's starting term, so expect to begin out of sequence and possibly take four semesters.
Does the program offer assistantships?
No. The program says it's a professional master's with no research requirement, so it doesn't offer assistantships. It does award fellowships, and students have found assistantships in other departments.
Is the NC State MFM a STEM degree?
Yes. The program says it qualifies for the STEM OPT extension. Confirm your own work authorization details with NC State's Office of International Services.
Get a second opinion
If you'd like another set of eyes on whether NC State belongs on your list, or on how your math reads, request a free Discovery Session, a Zoom session with one of our coaches, and we'll work through it together.
Sources
- NC State Financial Mathematics, home
- Future Students and deadlines
- FAQ
- Degree Requirements
- Career Services
- Employment data
- Financial Aid and Fellowships
- Preparation Workshop
- NC State graduate tuition rates
Header photo by Suzie Tremmel, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY 2.0, cropped and with the NC State University logo added.
