Baruch College’s Master of Financial Engineering Program Maintains Top Worldwide Ranking: Risk.net
January 2, 2025
For the second straight year, Baruch College’s Master of Financial Engineering (MFE) program ranks as the best in the world, according to leading business publication Risk.net.
In the 2025 edition of Risk.net’s “Quant Finance Master’s Guide,” Baruch secured the top spot among 42 programs from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Switzerland, UK, and the U.S. The College also outpaced several prestigious institutions, including Princeton, UC Berkeley, North Carolina State, Columbia, Paris-Sorbonne University/Ecole Polytechnique, University of Zurich, and the Technical University of Munich.
“The reputation of Baruch’s MFE Program is now firmly entrenched in both academic circles and the financial industry across the US, UK, Europe, and Asia. It is deeply rewarding to witness the College’s continued global recognition,” remarked Dan Stefanica, a professor in the Department of Mathematics and the program’s director since its inception in 2002.
“This top global ranking stands as a testament to the unwavering dedication, diligence, and passion of the program’s faculty, who are sought-after leaders in their fields, and our students. This recognition further underscores our commitment to delivering an exceptional educational experience while cultivating a program that equips students for professional success.”
Alumni Help Propel MFE Program’s Success
Baruch’s MFE program features more than 550 alumni which had a major impact on its top Risk.net student success score.
“Our alumni mentor and offer career guidance to our current students even before they join the program,” Stefanica said.
According to Risk.net, Baruch benefits from an excellent ratio of 1.42 students to every lecturer, and an average class size of just 17, among the very smallest in the guide. Baruch’s program is also recognized for boasting some of the “most distinguished names in modern quant finance,” Risk.net said, such as curriculum director Andrew Lesniewski and quant legend Jim Gatheral.
The MFE program at Baruch offers courses in machine learning and data science, areas in which Stefanica emphasizes the program’s commitment to a practical, hands-on approach that is critical for success in today’s fast-moving business environment.
Stefanica states, “Having a well-connected alumni network also creates a virtuous circle in informing the program’s curriculum, with course direction and material driven by our alumni, who are connected to the cutting-edge trends from the financial industry.”
Ranking Methodology
To rank the top 25 programs, Risk.net used eight weighted variables to compile a final score: average class size, acceptance rate, percentage of offer-holders who enroll, student and lecturer ratio, number of industry-affiliated lecturers over the total number of lecturers, employment rate in finance sector six months after graduation, number of citations for the five most cited lecturers in the past four years, and average salary six months after graduation. Read more about the methodology.
About Baruch College’s MFE Program
The Baruch MFE program is a STEM-designated program that produces competitive, successful, and highly skilled practitioners by promoting the study of mathematical and algorithmic models in finance.
Over the last eight years, the MFE program saw a 100 percent employment success rate for its students within three months of graduation. Students received and accepted offers from some of the world’s and nation’s top firms.
Learn more about Baruch’s MFE program.
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