Graduate Certificate in Applied Finance

The purpose of the Graduate Certificate in Applied Finance is to provide financial service professionals or graduate students aspiring to pursue careers in financial institutions and/or financial management units within for-profit or non-profit organizations, mainly in the Central Illinois area, with knowledge of the managerial aspects of institutional/personal finance. The graduate-level analytical skills of financial planning, budgeting and risk management are the core areas of knowledge to be covered.

The certificate will focus on the delivery of courses in the area of financial management that will help students develop their knowledge and skills in the following areas:

  1. Knowledge on the history, evolution and the basic concepts central to the financial service industry, financial market environment, and professional ethics.
  2. Knowledge of regulatory issues in the financial environment.
  3. Knowledge of the design and decision-making of financial operations, capital budgeting and planning, and risk management.

Course Prerequisites

Students enrolled in courses for the online Graduate Accelerated Programs (GAP) must be registered and pay all tuition, fees, and assessments by the program’s deadline each semester.

Requirements

Prerequisite Requirements 1
ACC 311Administrative Uses of Accounting4-6
or ACC 211
ACC 212
Introduction to Financial Accounting
and Introduction to Managerial Accounting
BUS 501Business Perspectives 23
ECO 315Economics for Administration4-6
or ECO 201
ECO 202
Introduction to Microeconomics
and Introduction to Macroeconomics
Total Prerequisite Hours8-15
Required Courses
FIN 502Managerial Finance3
FIN 505Investments3
FIN 556Entrepreneurial Finance3
Choose one of the following:3
Topics In Finance
Financial Markets and Institutions
Personal Financial Planning
Financial Analytics and Budgeting
Introduction to Financial Psychology
Applied Behavioral Finance
Another FIN/BUS/MGT 500-level course approved by advisor 3
Total 12
1

Prerequisites may be completed previously or concurrently with starting certificate course work. Preferably, prerequisites should be completed within seven years of application to the certificate program. Each prerequisite must be completed with a C- or better. Any prerequisite exceptions must have instructor approval.

2

BUS 501 - MBA students only.

3

This course must be documented with a Student Petition