In general, these degrees aim to prepare students for roles as "quants" (quantitative analysts), including analysis, structuring, investing and other related in the financial field.
[16] The title of the degree will depend on emphasis,[1] the major differences between programs being the curriculum's distribution between mathematical theory, quantitative techniques and financial applications.
[24] Specifically, whereas actuarial programs cover risk and uncertainty as applied to pensions, insurance and investments, quantitative finance programs are broader (although offer less depth in these areas), and prepare graduates for various of the highly numerate roles in finance[23] and for other areas that require "quants".
That degree focuses on the underlying economics, and on developing and testing theoretical models, and aims to prepare graduates for research based roles and for doctoral study.
At the same time though, "Master's in Mathematical Finance" programs are often positioned as providing a basis for doctoral study.
In 1989 Cornell University's Operations Research and Information Engineering department hosted the first ever academic meeting to focus on financial engineering,[25] which led to the development of the first research journal in the field, Mathematical Finance.
The first quantitative finance master's programs in the US were offered by Illinois Institute of Technology in 1990, under Dr. Michael Ong.
[32][33] Other pioneering programs include those at NYU's Courant Institute, Columbia, Princeton, Cornell, UCLA, DePaul and MIT.
[37] Programs are now widely offered internationally—see links below—and in some cases are available online or via distance education (e.g. Washington,[11] York,[12] Stevens,[14]