Financial Computation and Modeling

Financial Computation and Modeling
https://cofes.rice.edu/
2051 Duncan Hall
713-348-5839

Katherine Bennett Ensor
Program Director
ensor@rice.edu

The interdisciplinary Financial Computation and Modeling (FCAM) program is offered through a collaboration of the departments of Statistics and Economics. The FCAM minor consists of six courses focusing on the strategies and computational technologies used in the financial industry. The minor is designed for those undergraduate students with strong computational skills and an interest in finance. Many students pursuing the FCAM minor enter careers in the financial industry, either immediately after completion of their undergraduate studies or after graduate studies. Students completing the FCAM minor will understand the complexities of financial markets and their role in and impact on world economies.

The basic tools component of the FCAM curriculum will equip students with the economic, probability, and statistical tools necessary to pursue the advanced analytical courses. In the advanced courses, students will be exposed to state-of-the-art models and methodologies based on long-standing assumptions about the behavior of financial markets. They also will be exposed to alternative views of market behavior and investment strategies. The goal is to educate students to question basic assumptions as well as utilize and understand technologies based on these important assumptions. In the financial industry, a large suite of solutions are implemented and continually enhanced. A goal of the FCAM program is to train leaders in this industry who not only will understand the financial technologies but also will understand the role, impact, and potential pitfalls of these technologies.

Financial Computation and Modeling does not currently offer an academic program at the graduate level.

Director

Katherine Bennett Ensor, Statistics

Steering Committee and Undergraduate Advisor

Mahmoud A. El-Gamal, Economics

For Rice University degree-granting programs:
To view the list of official course offerings, please see Rice’s Course Catalog
To view the most recent semester’s course schedule, please see Rice's Course Schedule

Description and Code Legend

Note: Internally, the university uses the following descriptions, codes, and abbreviations for this academic program. The following is a quick reference: 

Course Catalog/Schedule 

  • Course offerings/subject codes: Courses from various subjects may apply towards this program

Department (or Program) Description and Code

  • Financial Computation and Modeling: FCAM 

Undergraduate Minor Description and Code

  • Minor in Financial Computation and Modeling: FCAM

CIP Code and Description1

  • FCAM Minor: CIP Code/Title: 27.0305 - Financial Mathematics