And sure, the financial sector has been severely hit, but some areas like commercial banking, insurance and financial planning are bucking the trend even now. Besides, you will be only entering the job market in 2011 - by which time the sector would have hopefully bounced back.

Delhi University's Department of Financial Studies, South Campus, offers Masters in Finance and Control at the PG level (www.mfc.edu). The MFC comprises of 16 courses in finance and accounting and a super-specialisation in the last semester to equip students with skills in financial planning, decision-making and control while familiarising them with the financial and regulatory environment. The revised curriculum, which will be implemented from July '09, will include courses in investor psychology, investment philosophy, mathematics of financial markets and technology valuation.

This is a good option for someone who wishes to focus on finance from day one. The two-year programme in finance is at par with an MBA. Graduates from any discipline can apply. The admission test (on Jan 18 2009) is on the same lines as CAT with emphasis on current business and financial environment followed by a GD and interview. The application deadline is December 04. What's more, at Rs 11,500 p.a. the fee is an absolute steal.

MFC is also offered at some other universities:

• Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh

• Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra

• Panjab University, Deptt of Correspondence Studies, Chandigarh (www.puchd)

• Punjabi University, Patiala (www.univpunjabi.org)

• University of Lucknow, Lucknow (www.lucknowuniv.org)

• Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi (www.bhu.ac.in)

• Bundelkhand University, Campus for Open Learning, Jhansi (www.bundelkhanduniv.org).