Drive Results Through Financial Analytics
Firms are operating in an increasingly challenging business environment, with greater competition, more informed customers and rapidly changing market trends. They also have access to more information about their customers, the marketplace and their competitors than ever before. This 12-credit-hour online program will help expand your understanding of the data available to you and how to make use of it most effectively.
August, January or May Start
What You'll Learn
- Understand how programming languages can be used to model problems in financial economics.
- Understand the limitations of data analysis and/or data mining.
- Be able to select the correct modelling alternative for a given problem.
- Be able to analyze and interpret data to support financial decisions.
Take Charge of Your Future
The curriculum is comprised of four methods courses, which you can tailor to fit your interests. All of these courses are either required or electives of the MBA program offered by the College of Business. You must earn a grade C or better in each course to complete the certificate.
Complete Two Required Courses
Quantitative Methods in Finance
FINA 801
Practical use of statistical and quantitative methods that have wide applicability in business and financial decision making.
Predictive Analytics
SCMA 851
Prerequisites: GRBA 851
This course will focus on how knowledge management has been successfully applied in business in the form of predictive analytics. Predictive analytics extends statistical and/or artificial intelligence to provide forecasting capability. It will also describe in non-technical terms the statistical and artificial intelligence-based tools commonly used in forecasting and other business decisions involving big data.
Choose One FINA Elective Course
Fixed Income Analysis
FINA 802
Basic understanding of fixed-income markets, fixed-income securities, and tools employed by market participants to the analysis of fixed-income investments.
Portfolio Management
FINA 863
Prerequisites: GRBA 811
The workings of securities markets. The fundamental intuition of the risk-return trade-off. The role of information in financial markets. All major asset pricing models and application to risk management in a portfolio context.
Options, Futures and Derivative Securities
FINA 867
Prerequisites: 2.5 cum GPA; FINA 338 or 367 or 863
The use of derivative securities in risk reduction and portfolio management strategies.
Choose One SCMA Elective Course
Risk and Simulation Modeling
SCMA 837
Analytical and simulation models for decision making in functional areas such as finance, accounting, marketing, personnel, operations, and inventory. Construction of decision models for practical applications. Emphasis on analyzing alternatives and implementing solutions that result in increased productivity.
Data Mining and Descriptive Analytics
SCMA 853
Prerequisites: GRBA 851
Data mining applies quantitative analysis to support humans in identifying actionable information from large amounts of data. Actionable means that value can be obtained, which for businesses usually relates to making money. This course will focus on how data mining has been successfully applied in business. It will also describe in non-technical terms how the statistical and artificial intelligence-based tools commonly used in data mining work. The course will also address ethical issues related to use of information obtained through data mining.
Advanced Analytics and Big Data
SCMA 854
Prerequisites: SCMA 851
Covers advanced business analytics topics, including data cleansing, classification, clustering, reduction, exploration and visualization. Big data analysis platforms and tools are also covered.
Admission
The application deadline is July 1, with the program beginning in the fall semester.
Upload Supporting Documents
All supporting documents including unofficial transcripts, professional resume and three references are uploaded directly via the graduate application.
You are required to submit an unofficial transcript from each post-secondary institution you have attended during the application review process.
Submit Official Transcripts
If you are admitted, you will be required to submit an official transcript sent directly from each institution you have attended to The Office of Graduate Studies. We recommend that you complete this task before your admitted term begins. A hold will be placed on your account if they do not receive your official transcripts by October 1 for the fall term, February 1 for the spring term and July 1 for the summer term. Students will have until that day to submit official transcripts or your admission will be rescinded.
Transcripts can be sent electronically to graduate@unl.edu or by mail to
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Graduate Admissions
1100 Seaton Hall
Lincoln, NE 68588-0619
International Student Transcript Submission
If you are an international student, please refer to the Nebraska Office of Graduate Studies for transcript and document information.
International Transcript Information
Applying for Multiple Certificates
The College of Business is pleased to provide multiple graduate certificate options. Please note, however, that students pursuing multiple graduate certificates may not apply the same course to more than one certificate. Below is a list of courses used by more than one certificate. If you have questions about this policy, please reach out to the Business Graduate Programs office at businessgrad@unl.edu.
Additional information on Application Requirements can be found at Graduate Studies website.
Prerequisites
Before applying, ensure you have met the prerequisites of a bachelor’s degree with a GPA of 3.0 or higher and have completed undergraduate Calculus (MATH 104, or equivalent) and Statistics (ECON 215, or equivalent). The GMAT (600) is required, however it can be waived with significant industry experience.
There are no other specific course requirements for admission to the certificate program.
August Start
Apply by July 1
Start Your Application
Affordability
Since certificate programs are not eligible for financial aid, we know cost is key. At a flat rate of $675 per credit hour, our certificate programs are some of the most affordable in the Big Ten.
Maximize Your Investment
Completing a certificate can be a good way to get a feel for graduate level classes and diversify your expertise. Because the course credits you'll earn while completing a certificate are transferrable, you can roll your credits into a master's program later on. If you're already enrolled in one of our MBA programs, you can use your MBA electives to earn this graduate certificate at the same time.
Explore Master's Programs
Get More Information
Provide your information and we'll send you what you need to know about earning your graduate certificate at Nebraska.
If you have immediate questions, contact our Business Graduate Programs Office at businessgrad2@unl.edu or 402-472-2338.