Lindner announces Quantitative Finance graduate certificate

Lindner graduate certificates allow students to gain specialized business knowledge to enhance their career options. Quantitative Finance can be completed in one to two semesters of study. The certificate can be taken as a standalone certificate or is easily combined with a Lindner MBA or one of the college’s other Master of Science programs, particularly Applied Economics, Business Analytics, Finance and Information Systems.

Quantitative Finance can be fulfilled through in-person and online modalities and is accepting applications for the spring 2025 semester. Prior experience or academic training in finance or analytics is helpful, but not required, for this certificate.

“The quantitative finance certificate adds financial context to quantitative tools possessed by applicants coming into the program with a technical/analytical background and provides quantitative tools to those coming in with a background in finance or related fields,” said Michael Ferguson, PhD, associate professor and head of the department of finance, real estate, and insurance and risk management. “Classes will have students with a range of technical and financial backgrounds, so you will learn from your classmates and the faculty.”

Quantitative Finance provides students with flexibility (in-person or online options); hands-on experiential learning opportunities; access to expert faculty who are leading scholars in their area of expertise and have extensive private industry experience; and a connection to Lindner's 50,000-strong alumni network, who can aid certificate recipients in landing job placements in an expanding talent field.

The curriculum features a compulsory two-credit-hour course in quantitative equity investing. Students must also complete two separate three-credit-hour courses, with two options for each course slot. Finally, students must fulfill four elective credit hours, with a trio of two-credit-hour courses to select from.

This certificate matches up with a range of job opportunities and career fields, from loan officers and financial, operations and portfolio managers, to budget, credit, equity, and financial and investment analysts.

“We are very much trying to stay at the forefront of the market, so students can elevate their careers,” said Michael Neugent, associate professor-educator of finance and director of the MS Finance program. “Students come to us because they either want to grow within their own company or move to other positions. We have to prepare them for that, and the certificate gets them into that mindset.”

The graduate certificate application priority deadline for the spring 2025 semester is Oct. 15, with the final deadline on Dec. 1.

Featured image at top courtesy of Adobe Stock.