MIT 15.401 Finance Theory I: study plan and how long it takes
The MIT OpenCourseWare playlist is 20 videos and 25.0 hours long. Here's how long it takes at different paces, a week-by-week schedule built from the real videos, and a planner that turns it into your own daily plan.
20 videos · 25.0 hours · MIT OpenCourseWare
MIT 15.401 (Fall 2008), taught by Andrew Lo, is MIT Sloan's core finance course: present value, fixed-income securities, equities, forwards and futures, options, risk and return, portfolio theory, the CAPM and APT, capital budgeting and efficient markets.
Sessions run 75 to 80 minutes and are packed with real-world examples.
Who it's for: Students and professionals who want a rigorous foundation in corporate finance and investments.
How long does it take?
The full playlist is 25.0 hours across 20 videos. Here's roughly how many days that is at different daily watch times and speeds, counting video time only:
| Daily time | At 1x | At 1.5x | At 2x |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 min a day | 50 days | 34 days | 25 days |
| 1 h a day | 25 days | 17 days | 13 days |
| 2 h a day | 13 days | 9 days | 7 days |
Make your own schedule
The playlist link is already filled in. Press Plan, set how much time you have each day and your speed, and you'll get a day-by-day schedule with a finish date and a calendar file. It reads the live playlist, so new videos are included.
Week-by-week schedule
A sample plan at 1 hour a day and normal speed, using whole videos so none is split across days. That's 3 weeks in total. For a different pace, start date or speed, use the planner above.
Week 1Videos 1–7 · 8h 51m
Day 1 · 1h 7m
- 1Ses 1: Introduction and Course Overview1h 7m
Day 2 · 1h 16m
- 2Ses 2: Present Value Relations I1h 16m
Day 3 · 1h 20m
- 3Ses 3: Present Value Relations II1h 20m
Day 4 · 1h 12m
- 4Ses 4: Present Value Relations III & Fixed-Income Securities I1h 12m
Day 5 · 1h 19m
- 5Ses 5: Fixed-Income Securities II1h 19m
Day 6 · 1h 20m
- 6Ses 6: Fixed-Income Securities III1h 20m
Day 7 · 1h 16m
- 7Ses 7: Fixed-Income Securities IV1h 16m
Week 2Videos 8–14 · 8h 40m
Day 8 · 1h 16m
- 8Ses 8: Equities1h 16m
Day 9 · 1h 19m
- 9Ses 9: Forward and Futures Contracts I1h 19m
Day 10 · 1h 20m
- 10Ses 10: Forward and Futures Contracts II & Options I1h 20m
Day 11 · 59m
- 11Ses 11: Options II59m
Day 12 · 1h 7m
- 12Ses 12: Options III & Risk and Return I1h 7m
Day 13 · 1h 19m
- 13Ses 13: Risk and Return II & Portfolio Theory I1h 19m
Day 14 · 1h 21m
- 14Ses 14: Portfolio Theory II1h 21m
Week 3Videos 15–20 · 7h 29m
Day 15 · 1h 19m
- 15Ses 15: Portfolio Theory III & The CAPM and APT I1h 19m
Day 16 · 1h 15m
- 16Ses 16: The CAPM and APT II1h 15m
Day 17 · 1h 20m
- 17Ses 17: The CAPM and APT III & Capital Budgeting I1h 20m
Day 18 · 1h 20m
- 18Ses 18: Capital Budgeting II & Efficient Markets I1h 20m
Day 19 · 1h 20m
- 19Ses 19: Efficient Markets II1h 20m
Day 20 · 54m
- 20Ses 20: Efficient Markets III & Course Summary54m
Tips for finishing
- Work the present value and bond pricing examples in a spreadsheet as you watch.
- Plan two sessions a week with the readings on MIT OpenCourseWare.