Italian Online Master in Economics & Finance for 4.5k from a Top-School

[Stoic]

Interesting. But it seems to be ranked in the 400-500 range world wide. Wouldn't it be better to get a degree from UIUC for 10k or so from a top 50 institution? Though I'm not sure if their management degree is still at that price point. But you can supplement it with courses in economics? There's also the Georgia Southern Masters in Applied Economics which qualifies you for Financial Aid, and there was the Mises U Economics degree, but it seems to have been removed.

[inor]

Interesting. But it seems to be ranked in the 400-500 range world wide. Wouldn't it be better to get a degree from UIUC for 10k or so from a top 50 institution? Though I'm not sure if their management degree is still at that price point. But you can supplement it with courses in economics? There's also the Georgia Southern Masters in Applied Economics which qualifies you for Financial Aid, and there was the Mises U Economics degree, but it seems to have been removed.

Is there a comparable degree from UIUC? Their MS in Management is around the price you quoted but it doesn't have much in common with the degree from Naples in terms of coursework. The MEF also has a research component that the iMSM doesn't, as far as I know.

The cheapest American MS in Finance that I know of is from UT Permian Basin and even that's between 2-3 times more expensive than the MEF (and probably takes longer to complete). Of course, that's full of finance courses whereas the MEF is more economics than finance, but still, it's more comparable than UIUC's offerings from what I can see.

[David1477]

Interesting. But it seems to be ranked in the 400-500 range world wide. Wouldn't it be better to get a degree from UIUC for 10k or so from a top 50 institution? Though I'm not sure if their management degree is still at that price point. But you can supplement it with courses in economics? There's also the Georgia Southern Masters in Applied Economics which qualifies you for Financial Aid, and there was the Mises U Economics degree, but it seems to have been removed.

Is there a comparable degree from UIUC? Their MS in Management is around the price you quoted but it doesn't have much in common with the degree from Naples in terms of coursework. The MEF also has a research component that the iMSM doesn't, as far as I know.

The cheapest American MS in Finance that I know of is from UT Permian Basin and even that's between 2-3 times more expensive than the MEF (and probably takes longer to complete). Of course, that's full of finance courses whereas the MEF is more economics than finance, but still, it's more comparable than UIUC's offerings from what I can see.

I have researched this topic for a while.

The cheapest online MS Finance in the US is from University of the Cumberlands. It's 11,005$. UT Permian Basin costs 11.730$. These were the only 2 options in that price range that I found. The UK has some programs for 10k$+ as well. Within the EU there is nothing besides some sketchy offers without proper accreditation and some business schools that charge 30k$+. The only other option in finance is WQUs NA financial engineering program which is very IT and math heavy but free. Economics doesn't have many affordable online master programs either, probably even fewer than finance.

[bjcheung77]

UIUC IMSM is in Management, it's got AACSB, good by itself, if you get a 70% scholarship, it can go down to $4K, but then the subject matter is not really in Economics/Finance. Essentially, it boils down to how much has put in to budget for their Masters education... If they have a larger budget in place, up to 10-12K, then the MOOC options from Coursera/EdX may work. If you only have a budget of say $5K, then this particular option should work for you.

[Stoic]

UIUC IMSM is in Management, it's got AACSB, good by itself, if you get a 70% scholarship, it can go down to $4K, but then the subject matter is not really in Economics/Finance.  Essentially, it boils down to how much has put in to budget for their Masters education... If they have a larger budget in place, up to 10-12K, then the MOOC options from Coursera/EdX may work.  If you only have a budget of say $5K, then this particular option should work for you.

Any tips to get that 70% scholarship? It's not financial related since they don't ask anything about income in the application. I wonder what type of keywords could trigger it?

[bjcheung77]

Any tips to get that 70% scholarship? It's not financial related since they don't ask anything about income in the application. I wonder what type of keywords could trigger it?

None, all applications are going to be looked at in a similar fashion, getting into the interview stage and going further with that stage is where most fail. I mean, you need to be honest in your application for financial need, and documents to back up that claim.

[Stoic]

Any tips to get that 70% scholarship? It's not financial related since they don't ask anything about income in the application. I wonder what type of keywords could trigger it?

None, all applications are going to be looked at in a similar fashion, getting into the interview stage and going further with that stage is where most fail.  I mean, you need to be honest in your application for financial need, and documents to back up that claim.

Would you say that UIUC is a selective school? I was surprised to see is actually ranked top 50 in the world. Sadly their only affordable program is this one. I don't think the other programs within that school are priced at around 10k with the 70% scholarship option.

[bjcheung77]

I think UIUC is a selective school, and most 'higher ranked' institutions that partner with Coursera or EdX are only offering 'some' programs they want as pilot projects to see how people see or view their product and service. Institutions are slowly yet surely adding programs to it, but may not offer such a discount as there is no need to, such as UIUC also has the IMBA, but that's at $24K not half the price the IMSM is. The IMSM is good on its own even though UIUC presents it as a starting point to ladder into the IMBA... You don't have to follow exactly that as it carries its own weight with a focus on Management instead of just Business Admin.

[Stoic]

I think UIUC is a selective school, and most 'higher ranked' institutions that partner with Coursera or EdX are only offering 'some' programs they want as pilot projects to see how people see or view their product and service.  Institutions are slowly yet surely adding programs to it, but may not offer such a discount as there is no need to, such as UIUC also has the IMBA, but that's at $24K not half the price the IMSM is.  The IMSM is good on its own even though UIUC presents it as a starting point to ladder into the IMBA... You don't have to follow exactly that as it carries its own weight with a focus on Management instead of just Business Admin.

That makes sense. Thank you.

[OtterDen]

This one seems very good. Thanks for sharing.

The ranking of University of Naples Federico II is high - with a ranking of 347 in QS World University Rankings 2025.

Any idea how intense would the coursework be?