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:
- Knowledge on the history, evolution and the basic concepts central to the financial service industry, financial market environment, and professional ethics.
- Knowledge of regulatory issues in the financial environment.
- 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 311 | Administrative Uses of Accounting | 4-6 |
| or ACC 211 & ACC 212 | Introduction to Financial Accounting and Introduction to Managerial Accounting | |
| BUS 501 | Business Perspectives 2 | 3 |
| ECO 315 | Economics for Administration | 4-6 |
| or ECO 201 & ECO 202 | Introduction to Microeconomics and Introduction to Macroeconomics | |
| Total Prerequisite Hours | 8-15 | |
| Required Courses | ||
| FIN 502 | Managerial Finance | 3 |
| FIN 505 | Investments | 3 |
| FIN 556 | Entrepreneurial Finance | 3 |
| 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