Best Online Master’s in Finance 2026

Badge for BEST ONLINE MASTER'S IN FINANCE

By Dr. James Barham
Reviewed By Chloe Dembski

Updated: Apr 27, 2026

Find top-ranked online master’s in finance degree programs to help students advance to leadership roles or pursue careers like compliance officers, accountants, investment bankers, actuaries, and stockbrokers.

Key Takeaways

Top online master’s in finance programs offer specialized tracks in areas like investment management, financial analysis, or corporate finance, allowing students to tailor their degree to align with their career goals in specific finance fields.
The programs in our ranking are designed to accommodate working professionals, offering flexible schedules, asynchronous courses, and self-paced learning options that allow students to balance their studies with work and personal commitments.
Many top finance programs provide virtual networking events, guest lectures from industry leaders, and access to finance-specific resources like trading simulations or financial databases, giving students valuable connections and practical experience in the finance industry.

Table of Contents

Top 10 Online Master's in Finance Degrees in 2026

Johns Hopkins University
University of Southern California
Boston University
University of Miami
University of Missouri
Fordham University
+1
University of Cincinnati
–1
University of Kentucky
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
+1
Auburn University
–1

Featured Programs

25 Best Online Master’s in Finance Degree Programs

Career Outlook for Students with Finance Degree

Go to Degree Finder tool

Finance

Degree Level: Master's

Location: The U.S. (Private Schools)
Avg. Cost of Degree*: $12,007
Avg. Expenses*: $18,863
Avg. Starting Salary*: $80,560
Avg. Salary after 4 Years*: $99,831
Avg. Cost Recoup Time**: 4 years
Job Growth: 7.47%
Number of Jobs: 5,169,100
* denotes ‘annually’
** denotes ‘at 15% of annual salary’

Career Salaries

Career	Job Growth	Avg. Salary
Chief Executives	5.48%	$206,680
Financial Managers	16.51%	$156,100
Financial Risk Specialists	8.35%	$106,090
General and Operations Managers	5.80%	$101,280
Personal Financial Advisors	17.10%	$99,580
Financial and Investment Analysts	9.53%	$99,010
Business Teachers, Postsecondary	6.67%	$97,130
Budget Analysts	3.74%	$84,940
Credit Analysts	-3.93%	$79,420
Financial Specialists, All Other	6.24%	$78,310

Top Industries

Industry	Avg. Salary
Chief Executives	$206,680
Financial Managers	$156,100
Financial Risk Specialists	$106,090
General and Operations Managers	$101,280
Personal Financial Advisors	$99,580
Financial and Investment Analysts	$99,010
Business Teachers, Postsecondary	$97,130
Budget Analysts	$84,940
Credit Analysts	$79,420
Financial Specialists, All Other	$78,310

Data from The Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Department of Education College Scorecard, The Department of Education NCES, and The Council for Community and Economic Research.

Frequently Asked Questions About Finance Degrees

A master’s degree in finance can help working professionals not only advance in their careers, but it can also ensure those in the industry are staying current with industry practices and standards.

This 30- to 40-credit degree can typically be completed in two to three years either online or in person.

Additionally, students often have the option to choose from a concentration, like wealth management, investment banking, international finance, and public sector finance. Although courses may vary depending on a chosen program and concentration, courses will cover topics like negotiations, risk management, business ethics, and portfolio management.

With a master’s in finance, graduates can advance to leadership roles or pursue careers like compliance officers, accountants, investment bankers, actuaries, and stockbrokers.

Learn more about what you can do with a master’s in finance.

How do we determine the best finance master's degree programs?

Methodology

Pursuing your degree online doesn’t mean you need to settle for an inferior school. Today, most universities and colleges offer online degrees, and many respected schools are seeing significant growth in their numbers of online students.

The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why influence — i.e., the academic impact of faculty and alumni associated with a school — gets at the heart of what is truly best in education. The combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers is the best indicator of academic excellence. For our online degree rankings, we focus on the academic influence of faculty and alumni in the specific disciplines we’re ranking.

If you are serious about finding the best online colleges, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching, and whether their graduates themselves are advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence. Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Influence, as measured by our InfluenceRanking engine, provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.

Online Degree Frequently Asked Questions

If this is your first time taking an online course, the experience may require some adjustment. While you’ll generally learn the same content and take the same exams as your on-campus peers, the medium will likely require you to manage much of this experience independently. You’ll be accountable for your own time management, your ability to harness the technology at your fingertips, and your ability to focus on the lectures, lessons, and assignments at hand. This means you’ll need to create a suitable workspace for yourself, maintain a realistic schedule, and take it upon yourself to build relationships with your instructors and classmates. With online college, your goal is to find a balance between independence and engagement.

No. The only part of online education that’s easier is actually getting there. Taking the commute out of the equation means getting to class should be a lot more manageable. But that’s where it ends. In general, your online courses will incorporate the very same materials, concepts, and testing methods as would a traditional classroom.

And in many cases, you’ll even have the same instructors as your on-campus counterparts. In fact, if you are adjusting to the experience of independent learning or working with remote learning technology for the first time, online college may even be a little more challenging for you. For a few insights on how to manage this new experience, check out our 10 Tips for Adjusting to School Online.

Accreditation is especially important when it comes to online college. This is because the online education landscape is a mix of highly-reputable institutions and less-than-reputable for-profit schools. Accreditation gives you the power to differentiate between the two. Accreditation is a stamp of approval from an independent accrediting agency which indicates that a college or university is meeting standards of quality, credibility, and currency. School-wide accreditation falls into two major categories: regional and national accreditation. Regional accreditors generally hold jurisdiction only over schools in the states comprising their region, whereas national accreditors hold jurisdiction over schools in all states. Regional accreditation is widely regarded as a more rigorous standard of quality and credibility than national accreditation.

Attending a college or university which is not regionally accredited could limit your opportunities. When seeking an online education, we strongly recommend that students opt for regionally accredited schools. Regional accreditation ensures eligibility for federal loans and grants, ensures your college credits can be transferred between schools, and ensures that your degree credits can be accepted if you wish to earn an advanced degree.

As long as your online college degree is regionally accredited, you should have little difficulty transferring most of your credits or credentials to another regionally accredited undergraduate school. Every school carries its own standards and procedures for granting a transfer. In many cases, you will be required to navigate a bureaucracy in which some of your credits will be transferred and others will be jettisoned. However, provided that you have attended an online school with the proper regional accreditation, you should have plenty of options for transfer.

In most cases, as long you graduate from a well-regarded, regionally-accredited online college, prospective employers won’t look sideways at your degree. In fact, unless you attend an exclusively online college or university, there will likely be no specific indicator on your degree, transcript or resume differentiating your school from its brick-and-mortar counterpart. This means that your employer will likely only differentiate between an online and in-person degree if you mention this distinction.

While some employers may express concern about making the adjustment from online education to in-person workplace collaboration, many other employers will view your online degree as evidence of valuable 21st Century professional skills such as independence, self-motivation, time management, and tech savvy.

If you are a student who thrives on the dynamic energy of in-person discussion, who requires the physical surroundings of a classroom to feel engaged, or who considers the social aspects of education to be of equal importance to the actual content of your courses, online education will require some adjustment.

While there is much that can be supplanted or simulated through the online medium, some students may find that there is nothing which can replace the conversation, collaboration, and motivation that occur in an actual classroom setting. As you make the adjustment to online education, one of the biggest challenges you will likely face is overcoming this difference in order to the get the most out of your classes. Fortunately, we’ve got some great Tips for Online Education Beginners.

The advantages of online classes are many. First and foremost, online courses give you the freedom and flexibility to attend class from anywhere that works for you, whether you’re at home, in a coffee shop, or in a quiet conference room at work. In many cases, you’ll also enjoy the convenience of asynchronous learning opportunities-educational experiences that you can complete on your own schedule. This may include pre-taped lectures, ongoing chat-board discussions, and 24/7 access to digital materials. And of course, just as there are some learners who prefer the energy of a live classroom, there are those who learn best when working in their own personal space, free from distractions. If this sounds like you, you might find the solitude of online learning to be a major advantage.

Whether you’re just getting started on your college search, you’re looking for survival tips on your way to a bachelor’s degree, or you’re preparing for the transition into grad school, we’ve got guides, how to’s and tons of other valuable resources to keep you moving forward in your educational journey.

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Best Online Master’s in Finance 2026

Key Takeaways

Top 10 Online Master's in Finance Degrees in 2026

Featured Programs

25 Best Online Master’s in Finance Degree Programs

Last Year’s Ranking:

Career Outlook for Finance degree at Johns Hopkins University

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Finance degree at University of Southern California

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Finance degree at Boston University

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Finance degree at University of Miami

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Finance degree at University of Missouri

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Finance degree at Fordham University

Online Degrees

Concentrations

Career Outlook for Finance degree at University of Cincinnati

Online Degrees

Concentrations

Career Outlook for Finance degree at University of Kentucky

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Finance degree at University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Online Degrees

Concentrations

Career Outlook for Finance degree at Auburn University

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Finance degree at Stevens Institute of Technology

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Finance degree at Creighton University

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Career Outlook for Finance degree at University of Detroit Mercy

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Finance degree at Rowan University

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Finance degree at University of Massachusetts Lowell

Online Degrees

Concentrations

Career Outlook for Finance degree at Golden Gate University

Online Degrees

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Career Outlook for Finance degree at Youngstown State University

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Finance degree at Southern New Hampshire University

Online Degrees

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Career Outlook for Finance degree at Purdue Global

Online Degrees

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Career Outlook for Finance degree at Empire State University

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Finance degree at North Central College

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Finance degree at West Texas A&M University

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Finance degree at Bellevue University

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Finance degree at Walsh College

Online Degrees

Concentrations

Career Outlook for Students with Finance Degree

Finance

Degree Level: Master's

Career Salaries

Top Industries

Frequently Asked Questions About Finance Degrees

Why get a master’s in finance?

How long does it take to get a master’s in finance?

What courses will I take while getting a master’s in finance?

What can I do with a master’s in finance?

Online Degree Frequently Asked Questions

What can I expect from an online college course?+

Is online college easier?+