Are you ready to learn more about a specific discipline to advance your career? You have options. After you have completed your Bachelor’s degree, you can choose between a Master’s degree or a graduate certificate.
What is a Graduate Certificate?
Graduate certificates are higher-level classes in a specific discipline. They are an opportunity to gain specialized knowledge and improve your skills to advance your career. The graduate certificate programs at Florida National University (FNU) include Academic Advising, Accounting, Finance, General Management and Leadership, Health Services Administration, and Marketing.
What are the Benefits of a Graduate Certificate?
There are many benefits to completing a graduate certificate. Some of the benefits include:
Benefit #1: A Quicker Option
Most Master’s degree programs take two years to complete, but graduate certification programs can be earned in as little as four months. If you want to fast-track your educational experience, a graduate certificate is a quicker option than a Master’s degree.
Benefit #2: Career Advancement
One of the benefits of completing a graduate certificate is the ability to advance in your career. Whether you are taking on more responsibility, switching departments, or training to gain specific skills not acquired during the Bachelor’s degree program, a graduate certificate can help you advance in your career.
Benefit #3: Networking Opportunities
Another great benefit of getting a graduate certificate is the connections you will make with instructors and classmates. You never know when you will need help finding a new job; a professional network can help.
Benefit #4: Prepare for a Graduate Degree
Did you know you can use the classes in the graduate certificate toward a Master’s degree in the same discipline? Some graduate certificate program courses overlap with those in the Master’s degree program. Start with four courses on education, healthcare, or business, and decide whether you want to advance your education with a Master’s degree program.
Benefit #5: Highly Targeted Curriculum
A graduate certificate is laser-focused and builds a curriculum around a topic. During the graduate certificate programs, you complete four courses that focus on a discipline like accounting or marketing. Florida National University offers six graduate certifications.
Benefit #6: A Variety of Graduate Certificate Options
Florida National University offers a variety of graduate certification options to advance your knowledge and skills in specialized areas of healthcare, education, and business.
What Graduate Certifications Are Offered at FNU?
There are a few graduate certificates that you can complete at FNU. These graduate certificate programs include:
Academic Advising
The academic advising certificate helps teachers who want to educate K-12 or higher education students. It provides the foundation for the theory and practice of academic advising. The courses that are part of the academic advising curriculum include:
Introduction to Academic Advising – Presents the basic principles of academic advising, including development advising, research on academic advising, models and delivery methods, advising skills, assessment, and special topics in academic advising.
Student Development Theory – An in-depth study of student development theory in cognitive and psychosocial theories.
Advising Diverse Population – An introduction for advisors to work with special populations based on various cultural, ethical, racial, and linguistic issues associated with advising practices.
Learning Principles – A review of strategies for enhancing student academic performance. Students explore the factors that enhance academic performance, including psychosocial variables, learning styles, and techniques.
Accounting
The graduate certificate in accounting prepares students for a career in accounting or further studies in the field. The courses that are part of the accounting curriculum include:
Advance Financial Accounting and Reporting Issues – A review of financial accounting practices and theory, including consolidations, foreign currency transactions, financial statement translations, and partnership accounting.
Budgeting – A review of the goals, technical procedures, and effects of budgeting.
Operational Auditing and Fraud Examination – An overview of the complexity of organizations’ need for established monitoring control systems. Students explore the audit process for organizational performance and fraud.
Federal Taxes and Management Decisions – A review of the need to recognize significant tax consequences of business transactions and the difference in tax liability.
Finance
The graduate certificate in finance provides the knowledge needed for concepts, theories, and practices in finance and management. The courses that are part of the curriculum include:
Applied Managerial Finance II – A review of managerial finance to develop a systematic approach to financial analysis and apply techniques for planning, forecasting, and managing.
Financial Institutions and Markets – A review of financial institutions and instruments. The course focuses on interest rates, security values, global trends, consolidations, and privacy and consumer protection issues.
Corporate Finance – An exploration of the practice and theory of corporate finance and the tools to conduct financial analysis.
MBA Capstone – An integration of functional, analytical, and communications knowledge to form and simulate a company’s management while analyzing real-world cases from the Harvard Case Study Library. By the end of the course, you will have completed a report demonstrating your analytical and presentation skills.
General Management & Leadership
The graduate certificate in general management and leadership builds a foundation in the major disciplines within the field of business, focused on managerial skills required for management positions. The courses that are part of the curriculum include:
Applied Managerial Finance II – See above in Finance for a description.
Management & Operations in Service Organizations – A review of strategic and tactical issues, including designing and managing service operations. This course focuses on operations, design processes, planning, and implementing systems for customer service.
Services Marketing – A review of the unique challenges of marketing and managing services. The course focuses on attracting, retaining, and building customer relationships with quality services.
MBA Capstone – See above in Finance for a description.
Health Services Administration
The graduate certificate in health services administration prepares you to specialize in health services administration by providing you with the essential components of finance, administration, and health law to manage a healthcare facility. The courses that are part of the curriculum include:
Health Care Finance – An examination of financial decision-making in the health care industry.
Health Informatics – A review of biomedical data resources and software tools for medical data. This course focuses on biomedical informatics’ ethical, legal, and social aspects.
Health Care Law & Legislation – An exploration of healthcare information technology planning and management in relation to healthcare organizations’ decision-making. The course focuses on IT investment, health data standards, and privacy concerns.
U.S. Health Care System – An examination of the U.S. health system, including the historical origins and resources, individual services, cost, and quality.
Marketing
The graduate certificate in marketing provides you with the key components and knowledge of tools, technology, and tactics to market goods and services successfully. The courses that are part of the curriculum include:
Services Marketing – A review of the service-driven economy. This course focuses on marketing, managing services, and delivering quality customer service.
Consumer Behavior – A review of the external and internal factors that dictate consumer buyer behavior and the buyer’s decision-making process. The course focuses on the consumer’s learning, motivation, personality, perception, and group influence.
International Marketing – An overview of marketing in the global economy. The course focuses on developing market strategies in diverse cultural, political, and economic situations.
MBA Capstone – See above in Finance for a description.
Eager to Learn More?
The Graduate Certificate program at Florida National University is designed for busy business professionals who do not have the time to invest in a complete master’s degree program but need to improve or build their skills in a specialized area. Each graduate certificate is designed to be completed in as little as four months.
Let Florida National University answer any questions if you are interested in graduate certificates. Contact us today to learn more.
