Certificate in Finance Online Graduate Program

The best certificate in finance is the one that best fits your goals. Here are a few reasons to consider the graduate certificate in finance from SNHU:

Affordability. Ours are some of the lowest online tuition rates in the nation. This is part of our commitment to make college more accessible by keeping it affordable.

Our Graduate Certificate in Finance is $637 per credit. With 21 credits required to complete the program, this totals $13,377 in tuition.

Flexibility. Our online format means you can access courses anytime you want. You could complete your program either part time (1 class per term) or full time (2 classes per term), giving you the option to progress at a pace that works for you.

We also offer multiple graduate and undergraduate term starts per year. This means you can move quickly from one term to the next, or take classes intermittently – whichever fits best with your schedule.

Credibility. We are a private, nonprofit, accredited university – and, according to many, a leader in online education. Since 1932, we've made student success our mission. From our humble beginnings as a business and accounting school, to our now 200+ innovative online programs, that legacy lives on today.

We're also regionally accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE). This distinction ensures that we meet the quality standards set forth by a trusted authority in higher education.

Transferability. One of the most attractive benefits of the Graduate Certificate in Finance is that all of its 21 credits can be transferred into our 36-credit MS in Finance program.

That means, when you've earned your graduate certificate, you've already made it more than halfway to earning your master's. And taking that next step could be a smart career move.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median weekly earnings for master's degree holders was $1,737 in 2023, while individuals with bachelor's degrees earned $1,493.¹ In this same period, master's degree holders had lower rates of unemployment than those with only a bachelor's degree.¹

Community. You might think that going to school online means you lose the experience of making new connections – but that's not the case at SNHU. When you enroll in our online degree programs, you can access one of the largest student and alumni networks in the world. Our graduates have found success all around the globe, and their experiences can help guide you in deciding your own career path.

We believe that education from a respected institution is always worth the work. Here are a few ways an online Graduate Certificate in Finance can help position you for success:

• First, it can help you adapt to a changing work environment. According to a 2023 report by the World Economic Forum, technology adoption will remain a key driver of business transformation over the next few years. More than 85% of organizations surveyed noted increased adoption of technologies and broadening digital access as the trends driving transformation.²
• The courses in our Graduate Certificate in Finance are specifically designed to help you stay abreast of current industry trends – so you can feel confident that you'll have what it takes to succeed in today's workforce.
• Second, it can validate what you already know. Let's say, for example, you work with the same employer for years. Over time, you evolve into a financial role, but never earn a formal degree along the way. This can present quite a challenge when you're trying to "sell" your skills to a new employer, but with a specialized graduate certificate, you'll have a credential you can use to back up your skills.
• Next, a graduate certificate can help you demonstrate growth to your current organization. As Clare Greenlaw, associate dean at SNHU, points out, a graduate certificate can help “signal your readiness for promotion." It shows your employer that you're not only ready and willing to take on new responsibilities, but that you've also gained the knowledge needed to shine in a more advanced role.
• Finally, this certificate program can help jumpstart your master's degree. Some learners opt to start with a graduate certificate, because it can serve as a "trial run" for an advanced degree. For a lower cost and time investment, you can figure out if the program is right for you, and potentially move on to a master's. The courses you take in the Graduate Certificate in Finance are also required in our MS in Finance program. You may also consider exploring the MBA in Finance or MS in Accounting Finance.

You can use a certificate in finance in a variety of ways.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, entry-level education for occupations like financial analysts or financial managers is a bachelor's.¹ That said, this certificate can help you build upon your undergraduate degree to pursue roles in the financial services industry. You'll be prepared for different environments, including corporations, insurance companies, banks, investment firms and government agencies.

If you've done the work to earn your bachelor's in finance, this Graduate Certificate in Finance can help you continue the path toward an advanced degree.

On the other hand, if you've earned your bachelor's in an area outside of finance, but want to widen your skillset, this certificate can help you build those skills. Upon completion, you'll be able to show employers that your talents are endorsed by a reputable university.

While a finance graduate certificate and a master's degree in finance may share many of the same courses and cover much of the same material, it's important to note some key differences between the two.

Specifically, we'll explore the time it takes to complete the program, overall cost and depth of skills.

Time to complete. Our Graduate Certificate in Finance requires 21 credits, or 7 total courses. You can begin your program during any of our 5 graduate term starts. This means you can earn your certificate in just a little over a year – even as a part-time student. If you opt to study full time, you could even finish your program in just a few months.

By comparison, the MS in Finance requires 36 credits, or 12 courses. Typically, this means it will take about 2 years to complete. However, if you opt to study as a full-time student, you can potentially finish your program in as few as 15 months.

Cost of program. At SNHU, we proudly offer some of the lowest online tuition rates in the nation.

The rate we offer for all graduate programs is $637 per credit. Of course, that means the 21-credit graduate certificate in finance and the 36-credit MS in Finance do vary in overall cost.

Tuition for the Graduate Certificate in Finance is $13,377; for the MS in Finance, the total would be $22,932.

Depth of skills. Both the finance graduate certificate and the MS in Finance will help you gain skills you can apply in various professional settings.

You'll learn about cost accounting, corporate and short-term financial management, capital budgeting, portfolio management and quantitative analysis for decision making.

That said, the MS in Finance does dive deeper into areas like managerial economics, capital markets, financial modeling, international corporate finance and more.

The MS in Finance also requires a capstone course, a culminating experience that challenges you to synthesize and demonstrate mastery of your coursework. This intensive work is precisely why many employers value a master's – it indicates a level of commitment and skill that's crucial to the success of any business.