The strength of the program is the close interaction it provides between the faculty and students. The faculty work intensively with students, offering their time, expertise, and experience to facilitate the students' understanding of financial markets and institutions and their research. As part of this process, Professors and students frequently collaborate in joint research and publication.
The Finance Ph.D. program seeks to admit students with the highest possible aptitude and potential for academic careers. For most students, the Ph.D. program consists of two years of course work followed by a preliminary examination, and then two to three years of dissertation research. All admitted students receive financial support, either in the form of a fellowship or through employment as a research or teaching assistant, in combination with tuition and service fee waivers. Most UIUC Finance Ph.D. graduates take positions at U.S. universities. In addition, some graduates take positions in the financial services industry or consulting, and some international students take academic positions in their home countries.
The Finance Department is part of the College of Business, which in turn is part of part of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), the main campus of the University of Illinois. UIUC is one of the world's premier research universities, and offers graduate programs in a wide range of fields.