Northeastern University's D'Amore-McKim School of Business is launching a new Bachelor of Science in Quantitative Finance (BSQF) this fall on its Boston campus. The rigorous interdisciplinary major is designed to prepare undergraduates for some of the most competitive roles in finance, from quantitative portfolio management to algorithmic trading and analytics-driven consulting.
The BSQF will be the fourth undergraduate BS option at D'Amore-McKim, joining the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, the Bachelor of Science in International Business, and the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Law.
This isn't just a concentration. It isn't four or five classes. It's an integrated, deeply interdisciplinary program.
Professor Boyson
The program is the culmination of nearly a decade of work by Nicole Boyson, Professor of Finance and chair of the Finance group, and Associate Professor of Finance Anand Venkateswaran, in collaboration with Donald F. Harding Distinguished Professor of Finance Rajesh Aggarwal and Teaching Professor of Finance Felipe Cortes. The team developed the curriculum by studying the academic paths of former students who secured highly sought-after quantitative roles, tracing which math, computer science, and finance courses those graduates took and the order in which they took them.
“We recognized years ago that there was employer demand for this,” Boyson says. “There are a lot of master's programs in quantitative finance, but there are very few bachelor's programs. With Northeastern's entrepreneurial spirit, deep knowledge in the space, and industry connections, it just felt like such a natural fit.”
The BSQF is a single major housed within D'Amore-McKim, with roughly a third of its coursework coming from the business school, a third from the Department of Mathematics, and a third from the Khoury College of Computer Sciences. Students take required finance, math, and computer science courses, along with electives across those areas, and graduate with a built-in finance concentration.
“Quantitative finance uses techniques from computer science, math, and economics, in addition to the skills learned in finance, to do things at companies that are beyond the scope of traditional finance,” Boyson says.
Before proposing the program, Boyson researched comparable offerings and found only a handful of undergraduate degrees nationally that combine this level of rigor across the three disciplines.
“This isn't just a concentration. It isn't four or five classes. It's an integrated, deeply interdisciplinary program. I'm excited because it adds tremendous rigor to the work we're already doing and because it's genuinely innovative—there aren't many schools offering this kind of program.”
The degree is designed to open doors to roles that are typically difficult for undergraduates to break into, including quantitative portfolio management, factor analysis, and algorithmic trading, as well as consulting positions at firms that value strong programming skills alongside financial expertise. Boyson says it should also strengthen students headed toward more traditional finance paths, including equity research, corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions.
“This is the pinnacle of undergraduate degrees in terms of the quality of the coursework,” she says. “If you go through it and do well, you'll be qualified for jobs in quantitative finance, but also investment banking, corporate finance, and any kind of investment role, because you'll have the same high-level skills your bosses have in those jobs.”
Interim Dean Emery Trahan says the program reflects D'Amore-McKim's broader effort to integrate business education with technical depth.
“The BSQF is exactly the kind of program our students and industry partners are asking for,” he says. “It reflects D'Amore-McKim's commitment to providing students with the rigor and breadth of a Northeastern business education that emphasizes the development of critical thinking and human skills.”
The BSQF will launch on Northeastern's Boston campus, with D'Amore-McKim hoping to eventually expand offerings to other campuses in the university's global network, including New York and London, creating even more global co-op and internship opportunities.
“I couldn't be more excited about the launch of this program,” Boyson says.
