## Quant Masters guide 2026
Jump to: All programmes | methodology
Welcome to the latest edition of Risk.net‘s guide to the world’s leading quantitative finance master’s programmes, and ranking of the top 25 courses.
Forty-three courses feature in the 2026 edition, with the top 25 ranked according to Risk.net‘s proprietary methodology. Click on an institution’s entry to access its full listing, including program data and Q&As with course directors. A full list of all featured institutions can also be found hereat the bottom of this page.
Like last year, US courses occupy seven of the top 10 slots and 13 of the top 25. The other 12 programmes are European and one canadian – the University of Waterloo. The rest-of-the-world group is led by two swiss programmes, organised by ETH Zurich/University of Zurich and EPFL.
As before, the guide covers only master’s programmes in which the teaching of quantitative finance is central.courses that focus on other subjects – corporate finance, management or statistics – which may still feature quantitative finance courses, have not been considered here. The list of programmes is non-exhaustive. Several programmes that failed to provide updated statistics were not included in the 2026 edition; the 2025 edition can be found here.
We are grateful for the help of course directors and faculty administrators when collecting data. Risk.net bears no obligation for exceptions, oversights or omissions. We will gladly consider feedback in this regard: quant-guide@risk.net
The guide should not be relied on for advice, but we hope it proves helpful to would-be master’s students, their teachers and their future employers.
Research by Mauro Cesa and Naomi Cardona Castellanos
Editing by Rob Evers
Ranking methodology
Table of Contents
To compile the ranking of the top 25 programmes, we considered eight metrics. These have been standardised with respect to the total pool of entries, and a weight has been assigned to each to reflect their contribution to the final score. The total score is the sum of the eight standardised metrics. the institution with the highest score takes the top position in the ranking.
The methodology used for this year’s ranking is identical to that used for the 2025 guide and previous editions. The eight variables and the respective weights are:
5% – Average class size;
10% – Acceptance rate;
10% – Percentage of offer-holders who enrol;
5% – Ratio between students and lecturers;
10% – Number of industry-affiliated lecturers over the total number of lecturers;
30% – Employment rate in finance sector six months after graduation;
5% – Number of citations for the five most cited lecturers as 2020; and
25% – Average salary six months after graduation, adjusted for the purchasing power conversion f
Top Quantitative Finance Programs: A Global Guide
For aspiring quants, selecting the right academic program is a crucial frist step. Risk.net has compiled a guide to leading Master’s programs in Quantitative Finance for 2026, offering a valuable resource for students seeking to take advantage of specialized training in this competitive field. Below is a curated list of institutions, categorized by region.
North America
Baruch College (City University of New York)
Carnegie Mellon University
Columbia university
Stony Brook University
University of Toronto
University of Waterloo
Stevens Institute of Technology
europe
Bayes Business School (City St George’s, University of London)
Imperial College London
SOAS, University of London
University College London
University of oxford
University of Warwick
Queen Mary University of London
University of bologna (Alma Mater Studiorum)