PhD in Finance Sees Unexpected Demand

The newly launched PhD in Finance programme is the latest success story in EDHEC's range of academic programmes.

As recently commented on by The Financial Times: "There is a silver lining to every cloud it would seem, and EDHEC Business School in France has discovered one of them amid current financial woes: demand for its Executive PhD in Finance programme is so high that it has had to bring forward the launch date.

The plan had been for EDHEC to launch its residential doctoral programme this year and the executive programme - which is intended for managers who retain employment - to be launched in 2009, according to Frédéric Ducoulombier, director of asset management education at EDHEC. "We thought we would need at least 18 months to persuade professionals of the value of the degree" he says. However, when the programme information was released in April 2008 the school had 300 enquiries for the residential track and 500 for the executive track. So in the first programme that began in October 2008, five participants enrolled on the residential full-time programme and 12 on the executive programme.

The latter have an average age of 39 and an average 15 years work experience, mostly in investment banking and management. They come from as far afield as Los Angeles and Tokyo. Both the residential and the executive programme include 175 hours of formal courses, 100 of which are in the first year. The degree can be completed in three years." (souce: The Financial Times, 11 December 2008). Click here for more programme information on the EDHEC PhD in Finance.