UNF announces new fintech programs
The University of North Florida will offer both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in financial technology beginning in the fall, the university announced Tuesday.
The Coggin College of Business, in partnership with the College of Computing, Engineering and Construction, is now accepting applications for the new master’s program in fintech, the only degree of its kind offered regionally, UNF said in a news release.
The School of Computing is also accepting applications for a new concentration in fintech within the bachelor’s degree program in computing and information sciences, UNF said.
The fintech programs will position students in one of Jacksonville’s most prominent economic sectors. The Wall Street Journal recently named Jacksonville the second-hottest job market in the country and hailed the region as a strong “tech and finance outpost.”
“Fintech has rapidly become a key industry in Jacksonville and Florida,” Richard Buttimer, dean of the Coggin College of Business, said in the news release. “The MS in fintech is another example of UNF’s ongoing commitment to developing the talent that will drive the economic growth of Jacksonville.”
Other universities also are zeroing in on fintech.
The University of Florida plans a campus in Downtown Jacksonville that will provide graduate training in fintech as well as biomedical technology, artificial intelligence in health care and other fields.
Additionally, the new STEAM Institute at Jacksonville University includes training in fintech as well as other disciplines such as computer sciences, cybersecurity and data science.
The new master’s program at UNF will merge the rigor of finance with the innovation of technology and analytics to “prepare students for leading roles in shaping the evolving financial landscape,” UNF said.
The fintech concentration at the undergraduate level will equip students with the skills needed to navigate the intersection of finance and technology and introduce topics such as data-driven financial modeling, financial data mining, machine learning and financial data analytics.
Students will network while in school and be prepared to enter jobs with locally based fintech giants such as FIS, Deutsche Bank and Dun & Bradstreet, the UNF announcement said.
The new programs expand on UNF existing fintech offerings, which include a master’s degree in business analytics with a concentration in fintech that began last fall.
