Registration
Stay on top of important academic dates, including registration periods, add/drop deadlines, holidays, and graduation deadlines. Select Graduate & Professional Student Registration Deadlines to view key dates for your semester.
Important: Changes to your course schedule may have academic, financial, or immigration implications. If you are considering adding or dropping a course, consult your academic advisor before making changes.
Registration Timeline
A comprehensive/detailed academic calendar can be found on the Office of the Registrar's website.
Fall 2026
- August 23, 2026 - Deadline to cancel registration.
- August 24, 2026 - First day of instruction for Fall 2026.
- September 4, 2026 - Deadline for all to add or drop courses for POT 1 (full semester) via Student Self-Service.
- September 18, 2026 - Deadline for all to drop POT A (1st 8 weeks) via Student Self-Service
Spring 2027
- January 18, 2027 - Deadline to cancel registration.
- January 19, 2027 - First day of instruction for Fall 2026.
- January 25, 2027 - Deadline for all to add or drop courses for POT 1 (full semester) via Student Self-Service.
- February 1, 2027 - Deadline for all to drop POT A (1st 8 weeks) via Student Self-Service.
Explore and Register
Review resources for planning your MSF coursework.
Early Registration Application Courses
Some courses have an application which must be filled out before registering before open registration begins. This gives priority to MSF students who need the class for graduation.
FIN 585 - MSF Academy I (2 credit hours)
MSF Academy I helps students understand finance industry functions, skills, and expertise needed for a variety of careers. The course fosters comprehension of industry practices and prepares students for professional activities. Additional objectives include staying informed on industry trends, enhancing career placement skills, and building a professional network for future growth and success in the finance field. Prerequisite: Restricted to students in the MSF program.
*Registration is contingent upon an admission screening process. Students accepted into the course will be notified by the instructor. Applications may be found online.
FIN 583 - Practicum (1 to 4 credit hours)
FIN 583 Practicum is a semester-long, typically corporate-sponsored, team project for MSFE and MSF students that is usually completed by the end of the third semester of study. The goals of the Practicum are: a) to use learned or new tools on real world projects of interest to the corporate sponsor; b) to replicate as closely as possible the environment of the working world where students will soon find themselves employed; c) to work cohesively with other members of a team so as to efficiently produce the desired project results; and d) to be able to communicate effectively with technical and non-technical audiences, which may include the sponsor and/or co-workers.
*Students who are accepted into FIN 583 will be notified within the first 10 days on instruction of their FIN 583 project team assignment and instructor. Each Instructor has a unique CRN that will be emailed to the students by the Finance department. Students may apply here.
Courses with Skills Assessment Option
If seats are available for either of the following courses, students who have not taken the required prerequisite course may pass a skills assessment test to bypass the prerequisite.
FIN 503 - Quantitative Finance II (2 credit hours)
This course covers topics in time series analysis with an emphasis on applications. It is intended to prepare MSF students for more advanced courses in finance. This course provides some basic knowledge of financial time series data. It also introduces models and methods widely used by academics and practitioners. The purpose of this course is to understand proper use and limitations of econometric methods in applied time series analysis. Prerequisite: FIN 502 or consent of department.
*The prerequisite is completion of FIN 502 or pass the MS Finance skills assessment for FIN 502: Quantitative Finance. If you have passed the skills assessment and want access to registration, email finregistration@business.illinois.edu with a copy of your results. You will receive an email once the override has been applied.
FIN 559 - Advanced Data Science and Python for Finance (4 credit hours)
Provides an advanced understanding of Python and data analytics tools to solve problems in finance. Students will analyze data and solve real-world problems such as investigating market responses to earnings announcements, comparing value and growth investing, forecasting stock prices, predicting bankruptcy, and estimating house prices.
*The prerequisite is completion of FIN 558 or pass the MS Finance skills assessment for FIN 558: Data Science and Python for Finance. If you have passed the skills assessment and want access to registration, email finregistration@business.illinois.edu with a copy of your results. You will receive an email once the override has been applied.
