There's strength in our numbers

From exceptional student placement rates to top salaries for our graduates, Tippie's finance department sets a high bar for student success. In fact, as part of our full-time MBA program, the finance department was ranked #1 in the world by the Financial Times.

Tippie finance faculty are leaders in both research and teaching. Our students get hands-on experiences like managing real-world funds. And our graduates are making an impact in the world of business—from leading Fortune 500 companies to influencing major mergers and acquisitions.

With a finance degree from Tippie, you’ll have what you need to succeed. For the latest information on Finance department happenings, check out our award-winning Exchange magazine.

Academic programs

Finance Major

Finance majors experience classes that involve finding, following, managing, and making money. You’ll learn financial and investment fundamentals.

Risk Management & Insurance Major

Risk management & insurance (RMI) professionals help companies and individuals identify risk and address it. The demand for RMI graduates continues to grow. And so will your opportunities.

Master of Finance

Earn an MS degree from a school with a global finance reputation. Gain focused financial expertise, financial analytics proficiency, and hands-on experiences like consulting for clients and managing real-world funds.

PhD in Finance

Working side by side with researchers in finance and teaching in the classroom prepares you for work in this dynamic field.

Certificates

Finance Certificate

Do a deep-dive into financial management principles, corporate investment and financing decisions, risk management theories, wealth management, to see the full picture of finance operations.

Corporate Finance Certificate

From financial planning to budgeting, project management, and plant management, you’ll gain the ability to understand the complexities of business finance.

Financial Decision-Making Certificate

Learn to read financial reports, articulate reasoned financial decisions, analyze financial statement, make forecasts, and evaluate new business ventures so you can add value through sound financial advising.

Investment Management Certificate

Whether you’re looking to work in an investment role or get a better handle on your own personal portfolio, an investment management focus prepares you with financial management principles, portfolio management, real estate finance, and more.

Responsible Resource Management Certificate

Understand where to apply responsible resource management, how to evaluate and optimize resources, how to manage processes responsibly, and more—all within a framework of socially responsible management practices.

Risk Management & Insurance Certificate

Gain an understanding of the unique landscape of insurance along with the ability to make strategic recommendations that will help your company avoid undue risk.

$ 73,644

Average starting salary (Master's)

Among 2023-2024 grads

96 %

Finance alums employed or in grad school

Class of 2024

$ 947 k

Value of the student-run Krause Fund

September 2025

Aerial photo of University of Iowa campus

Finance faculty

Faculty within the department includes a roster of tenure-track faculty, experienced lecturers, and adjunct faculty from the corporate sector.

See our faculty

Amrita Nain

Research interests

Tippie faculty research dives deep into areas of risk management, real estate, corporate finance, investments and more.

Explore our research

Students in class

Clarence Tow Lectures in Finance

Hear from high-profile researchers from finance present to an audience of faculty, PhD students, and researchers from in and around the University of Iowa.

See the schedule

# 1

Largest undergraduate major at Tippie

# 17

BEST PUBLIC UNDERGRAD FINANCE PROGRAM

U.S. News & World Report, 2024-25

34,000

Google scholar citations by 16 tenure-track faculty

Department highlights

Hawkinson Institute

Dedicated to getting students career-ready for jobs in investment banking—open to finance and accounting majors.

Vaughan Institute

Preparing students for beneficial careers both in corporate risk management and insurance—one of the state’s largest industries.

Hadley Finance Lab

The Phil Hadley Finance Lab brings together finance students from select courses and programs in a collaborative space dedicated to the study of financial markets.

Henry Fund

An endowed equity portfolio managed by select students in the Master of Finance program, valued at over $23 million.

Krause Fund

Undergraduate students learn to manage a diversified portfolio of stocks through a semester-long Applied Equity Valuation course.

Hart Fund

Students develop expertise in the bond market by defining and executing an investment strategy for a fund dedicated to fixed income and managed by Tippie Master of Finance students.

Recent news

city on fire

Wildfire risk leads to higher financing costs for vulnerable cities

Tuesday, November 11, 2025
Wildfires cause billions of dollars in property damage to American communities every year, and a new study from the Tippie College of Business finds many cities are paying the price when they issue bonds.
Henry B. Tippie arch

Tippie faculty named among top scientific researchers in Stanford study

Wednesday, October 1, 2025
A number of Tippie College of Business faculty were recognized in a recent study published by Stanford University as among the top 100,000 most impactful scientific researchers in their fields.
person reading Catching Cheats

Catching Cheats

Tuesday, September 2, 2025
Erik Lie’s new book probably won’t win him many friends in the corporate world. “Catching Cheats: Everyday Forensics to Unmask Business Fraud,” exposes how corporate executives, accountants, stock traders, bankers, and other shady characters accumulate wealth through fraud, deception, and general illegal behavior.

Join our team

Check out available faculty positions within the department.

See open positions

Contact us

Finance Department
S252 Pappajohn Business Building
319-335-0929

See department members

Support us

Your gift to the Department of Finance at the Tippie College of Business helps fund future innovations and initiatives.