Students who fulfill all the requirements will receive a certificate from the University upon graduation, issued by the Registrar.

To complete the Certificate in Finance, students must complete a total of five courses, including two core courses and three electives, at level 300 or higher, and independent work in finance. Students must earn a minimum grade of C+ averaged over the two core courses, the three elective courses, and the independent work. All courses and independent work must be completed by the end of a student’s senior year.

Core Courses

The two core courses are:

Independent Work Requirement

The preferred way to satisfy the independent work requirement of the certificate is for a student’s senior thesis, in their chosen concentration, to include significant finance content, meaning that a substantial component of the thesis (at a minimum a separate chapter of the thesis) involves issues or methods drawn from finance.

If there is no possibility of including finance content in a student’s senior thesis, a separate, shorter piece of independent work is required. Students should consult with the BCF Academic Administrator Melanie Heaney-Scott to discuss this possibility and receive approval to satisfy the IW requirement in the form of either:

• A junior paper, written in the student’s department, which contains significant finance content.
• An independent paper, completed during the student’s senior year, which must be about a finance topic. Please contact the BCF Academic Administrator Melanie Heaney-Scott  to be paired with an advisor. Independent papers should be at least 15 pages long.

Students may use the same independent work, including senior thesis,  junior paper, or independent paper to fulfill the finance certificate independent work requirement plus one other (department’s requirement, or a different certificate’s requirement), but not more than one other. View senior theses submitted in previous years.

Study Abroad & Earn Credit Towards Your Certificate

Many students ask if they can use a course from study abroad. The answer is yes! After the usual approval forms have been signed prior to your departure the course grade will automatically appear in your DPR for the Certificate. We only accept regular semester courses (no summer session or online courses) that are deemed equivalent to a Princeton course.