Finance Graduate Certificate

The Finance Graduate Certification Program is designed to offer students the opportunity to gain a strong knowledge base in the area of Finance. Possible prospective students include those with a non-business undergraduate degree and those with a business degree in an area of business other than Finance. This Program essentially allows students to take a short, focused graduate program in the area of Finance. This Program is aimed at professionals that currently work in a Finance-related field looking to enhance their Finance knowledge, or for professionals contemplating a career shift to a Finance-related field. Profiles of potential students include: (1) An employee of a financial services company whose educational background is in an area other than Finance and who could benefit from some more formal Finance training; (2) An employee of a financial services company looking for continuing education classes demanded for a professional license or credential; (3) Someone currently employed in an area other than Finance that desires to update their knowledge portfolio for a career change; (4) Someone personally interested in having a better understanding of the many Finance issues that directly affect their lives.

Admission Requirements

Admission requirements include an undergraduate degree with a GPA of 3.00 or higher, and either relevant work experience or a GMAT of 550 or higher. Relevant work experience is a minimum of 3 years experience in a relevant finance-related position. The determination of what is considered relevant work experience will be made by the Department of Finance Certificate Program Administrator.

If desired, upon successful completion of the Finance Certification Program, students may apply for admittance into the UNLV MBA. General admission requirements for the UNLV Evening MBA Program include: an undergraduate degree with a GPA of 3.00 or higher and a Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) score of 550 or higher.

Certificate Requirements

The Finance Graduate Certificate Program is a 4 course, 12 credit hour program. The Finance Graduate Certification Program consists of one required class:

 . With appropriate background the Certificate Student may substitute an elective Finance class for MBA 711. What qualifies as an appropriate background will be determined by the Department of Finance Certificate Program Administrator. An example of an appropriate background is having an undergraduate degree in Finance.

  and   are prerequisites for MBA7 11 and can be waived with equivalent course work. Equivalent course work for MBA711 - Accounting Management is the completion of ACC 201-Financial Accounting and ACC 202 - Managerial Accounting (or their equivalents) with a B average or better (B- grades are not acceptable). Equivalent course work for MBA 710-Applied Economic Analysis is the completion of ECON 261 - Principles of Statistics I and ECON 262 - Principles of Statistics II (or their equivalents) with a B average or better (B- grades are not acceptable).

Program students then choose 3 of the available 700-level Finance classes. Currently, 5 classes are available:

• FIN 708 - Advance Corporate Finance
   
• FIN 710 - Investment Management
   
• FIN 712 - Financial Markets and Institutions
   
• FIN 715 - Portfolio Management
    Prerequisite: FIN 710
• FIN 740 - Risk Management
   

Students must have a minimum of a 3.0 GPA in the Program to receive the Finance Graduate Certificate.