Undergraduate Certificate in Finance
Learn From the Leader in Modern Finance
Level up your skillset with the Undergraduate Certificate in Finance from Bendheim Center for Finance
Princeton undergraduates may earn a Certificate in Finance that recognizes their proficiency in the discipline of finance. Open to all majors, the program is one of the largest on campus, with over 2,000 certificates awarded since program inception. The application period for sophomore students opens in the Spring of each year. Students who fulfill all the requirements will receive a certificate from the university upon graduation.
Benefits of the Certificate
Modern finance is remarkably diverse, drawing from many disciplines beyond economics including mathematics, operations research, engineering, computer science, psychology, and politics.
In addition to the obvious practical relevance of finance, the field contains both challenging intellectual problems and a distinctive conceptual framework.
The rapidly evolving field of finance encompasses myriad topics including:
- Pricing of financial and real assets, including equities, bonds, currencies, and derivative securities
- Portfolio management and the evaluation of financial risks
- Banking and financial intermediation
- FinTech and modern forms of digital money
- The financing of corporations
- Corporate governance
- Environmentally and socially responsible investing
In earning the certificate from BCF—an interdisciplinary center run by faculty from the Economics Department, the Department of Operations Research and Financial Engineering, and more—students explore the field’s most challenging questions.
Celebrating Success
We recognize outstanding student effort with our Undergraduate Certificate of Finance Annual Prizes. Each year two prizes are awarded to our top two students on Class Day:
Birch Family Prize: Established in 2004 by William D. Birch Jr. (’64) and William Marco Birch (’92). It is awarded to a graduating senior with the highest grade point average in course work related to the Undergraduate Certificate in Finance.
Kathleen Traynor Research Fund: Established in 2022 by Kathleen Traynor (’83), the Kathleen Traynor Research Fund Award is given to the graduating female senior with the highest GPA in coursework related to the Undergraduate Certificate in Finance.
Apply for the Certificate in Finance
Knowledge of modern finance is essential to the proper understanding of many other topics in economics and public policy, including:
- Exchange rates and international capital flows
- Monetary and fiscal policy
- Financial reform in developing and transition economies
- The regulation and taxation of finance
- Antitrust policy
By earning the Certificate, students enhance their resumes and strengthen their applications for graduate school and many competitive job markets.