Principles of Finance Graduate Certificate (Online)

The Principles of Finance Graduate Certificate develops your command of the core concepts and analytical tools behind sound financial decision-making. In four courses, you’ll explore accounting, corporate finance, economics, and the financial instruments and markets that shape how organizations allocate resources and manage risk.

Designed for professionals seeking to strengthen their financial and analytical capabilities, this fully online certificate covers the three disciplines — finance, accounting, and economics — that form the foundation of strategic financial thinking. You’ll study with faculty who bring both academic rigor and real-world experience across financial services, consulting, and organizational leadership.

Through the Principles of Finance Graduate Certificate, you’ll learn to:

• Apply accounting principles and financial analysis methods — including cost behavior, budgeting, and variance analysis — to evaluate organizational performance and support operational decision-making.
• Analyze cost systems using tools such as cost-volume-profit analysis and activity-based costing to inform pricing, planning, and resource allocation.
• Evaluate financial instruments and markets — including bonds, equities, derivatives, and money markets — to assess investment opportunities and manage financial risk.
• Apply microeconomic theory, optimization, and market dynamics to interpret competitive environments and support strategic business decisions.
• Assess financial strategies across investment analysis, valuation, risk management, and nonprofit finance to address the full range of contexts where financial expertise is applied.

The Principles of Finance Graduate Certificate includes four online courses:

• 1 finance course
• 1 accounting course
• 1 economics course
• 1 elective

Selecting courses. Multiple course options are available during fall, spring, and summer terms. Offerings vary by term. Explore current options in the DCE Course Search & Registration platform.

Stackable credentials allow you to earn multiple credentials by completing courses that meet overlapping requirements.

If you pursue a master’s degree in one of the following two fields, you can earn this graduate certificate along the way by completing courses that fulfill both certificate and degree requirements:

• Master’s degree in finance
• Master’s degree in management

This approach allows you to build expertise in the finance principles while making measurable progress toward your graduate degree.

Learn how to plan a stackable credential pathway.

If you take two courses per semester, you can complete your certificate in 8 months. If you prefer a more flexible pace, you have up to three years to finish.

There is no formal application required. You simply register for each course.

To meet the requirements for the certificate:

• Complete the four certificate courses for graduate credit.
• Earn at least a B grade in each course.
• Complete all courses within three years of starting your first eligible certificate course.

Learn more about pursuing a certificate and the process of requesting your certificate.