Master in Finance and Strategic Management (MSc)

Master in Finance and Strategic Management (MSc) is one of 4 English-taught Finance programmes at Master's Degree level in the register, offered by 1 institution. 4 of them list an annual fee for students from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland; this programme lists EUR 8,000 a year.

MSc EBA FSM is a two-year master's at Copenhagen Business School in Frederiksberg. It mixes finance and strategy, and the programme page puts it plainly: you learn to connect financial models with organisational and competitive challenges. Teaching is in English, and the programme takes in about 150 students a year, roughly 46 percent of them from outside Denmark.

What you study

The first year is built from named courses. In the autumn semester you take Strategic Management (7.5 ECTS), Corporate Finance (7.5 ECTS), Theory of the Firm (7.5 ECTS) and Financial Market Theory (7.5 ECTS). In the spring semester you take Corporate Strategy, Corporate Governance and Finance, Risk Management and a Business Project, each 7.5 ECTS.

The content splits across three areas: organisation and management (35 percent), finance (35 percent) and economics and mathematics (30 percent). On the finance side you work with pricing and payout policy for stocks, investment portfolios and risk. On the strategy side you look at leadership styles, decision-making, global sourcing and international growth. The Business Project is a group exam with a written assignment and an oral exam on campus.

How the programme is organised

The third semester is yours to shape. You can take electives at CBS or at other Danish universities, or a minor, typically three courses in one academic area. Many students go on exchange at one of CBS' more than 300 partner universities, and you can bring your SU. You can also replace some electives with an academic internship at a company in Denmark or abroad, finished with a project report. FSM students can also apply for CEMS, a double degree in international management studied alongside the CBS degree in the third and fourth semesters, partly at a CEMS university abroad.

The fourth semester is the master's thesis, 30 ECTS. You pick the topic, and most students write it with a fellow student. The programme is full-time, 120 ECTS in total.

Who it suits

You need to be comfortable with numbers and theory. The page says you will handle calculations, interpret financial data and use quantitative tools, and that you should apply maths, statistics and economics from the start. If those areas are rusty, refresh them before you begin. The workload is demanding, with theoretical reading, case-based learning and hands-on financial analysis.

The students are described as ambitious and academically strong, and the environment is international and fast-paced. There is not much group work before the final project in the second semester, so you have to find your own study partners. One student recommends finding at least one person to discuss the courses with.

Admission, language and next steps

Everything is taught in English. The page points to the programme regulations and the entry requirements for the specific admission rules. Students from the EU/EEA and Switzerland study free of charge; other students pay a fee that the institution sets. Apply directly to CBS for a master's programme. CBS runs an Open Day for master's programmes at Solbjerg Plads 3 in Frederiksberg, where you can meet students and staff.

Master’s applications go straight to Copenhagen Business School, not through optagelse.dk, and the institution sets its own deadline. Entry requirements and language tests are set by the institution, so start from the official programme page. Our guides cover tuition fees, residence permits and housing.