Pregraduate Business Administration Certificate | Northwestern SPS - Northwestern School of Professional Studies

Introduction to Financial Accounting covers the foundational concepts of accounting and the fundamental basics of financial statements, allowing students to identify, measure, and record accounting information, as well as communicate that information to external users. Specific topics will include the accounting cycle, accrual accounting, receivables, inventory and cost of goods sold, depreciation, debt vs. equity financing, and stockholders' equity. By the end of this course, students will be proficient in preparing financial statements and applying key ratios to analyze specific financial information. Students will join group discussions, complete online homework assignments and individual projects, and complete online examinations.

This course is conducted completely online. A technology fee will be added to tuition.

A continuation of the introduction to accounting, with emphasis on providing relevant and timely accounting information and analysis to managers for use in planning, decision making, and controlling strategic operational objectives. Topics include the classifications of costs and different ways of reporting and analyzing those costs; the operating budgeting process; capital budgeting; and job-order, standard, process, and activity-based costing systems. To enhance the overall understanding of the textbook material, practical business references will be made through the use of videos and selected article reading.

Prerequisite: ACCOUNT 201 Introduction to Financial Accounting or similar knowledge is expected.

This course is conducted completely online. A technology fee will be added to tuition.

This course is an introduction to economics with emphasis on macroeconomics. The course covers aspects of general economics that everyone should know, including how the market system works, how prices are determined, why shortages and surpluses occur, and why some people earn high incomes and others earn low incomes. Topics include: supply and demand, competition vs. monopoly, inflation, unemployment, recessions, booms, fiscal and monetary policy, budget deficits, international trade, and exchange rates. Prerequisite: two years of high school mathematics or MATH 101.

This introductory course in economics emphasizes macroeconomics for business analytics. In the first third of the course, we will cover general “microeconomic” topics such as scarcity, choice, how the market system works, and the effects of government intervention. This will take us up to the first midterm. Then we’ll turn to long-run macroeconomics and consider such things as economic growth and consumption. This should take us through to the second midterm. We’ll then look at money and inflation and finish with short-run macroeconomics and stabilization policies. Time permitting, we will also consider contemporary issues such as the role of economic policy in addressing the COVID crisis.

The course is conducted completely online. A technology fee will be added to tuition.

This course is limited to School of Professional Studies students only. Undergraduate students in other schools at Northwestern are not permitted to enroll in this course.

In a market economy, the interaction of buyers and sellers in many connected markets governs how the economy's resources are allocated. Market prices are determined by the decisions of all consumers and firms but mostly taken as given by any individual. We will construct models of the behavior of consumers and firms, and of the determination of prices in markets under a variety of conditions. We will examine the properties of the allocations, especially their efficiency, and the role of the government in these matters. Prerequisite: ECON 201.

This course will focus on the quantitative tools primarily used in the field of finance. We will use Excel to derive our computational solutions as it is a tool used frequently in the finance field. We will put heavy emphasis on the mathematics of interest rates, including the tools used to value common stock and fixed rate bonds. We will discuss how rates of return for these instruments are measured. We will then look at the capital budgeting process and learn how managers determine in which projects to invest a firm’s limited resources. We will also study the probabilistic and statistical tools necessary to understand how investors and financial economists evaluate risk. Primary emphasis will be on an intuitive understanding of portfolio theory and its impact on estimating the expected return on an asset given its systematic risk through the Capital Asset Pricing Model. We will also consider the contributions of Behavioral Finance proponents on the valuation of financial assets.

Prerequisite: While there is not a formal prerequisite for this course, it is helpful for students to have a basic understanding of algebra and statistics, especially concepts such as standard deviation, correlation, covariance and regression. Also, some knowledge of accounting is helpful, such as familiarity with balance sheets, cash flow statements, and income statements.

The course is conducted completely online. A technology fee will be added to tuition.

This course covers capital budgeting, or how corporate managers determine where to invest a company's funds; how companies determine what an appropriate discount rate would be for a given capital investment; the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and the Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) models used to estimate a firm's cost of equity, along with a detailed consideration of how beta is estimated for the CAPM; how a company derives its weighted average cost of capital (WACC); the dividend policy decision; and capital structure theory. Financial planning models will also be considered in depth. This course also covers the adjustments typically made to financial statement data to accommodate the needs and viewpoints of financial analysts and investors. Finally, we examine the topic of corporate risk management (hedging techniques). Prerequisite: FINANCE 202 or equivalent.

This course is designed to provide an overview of core mathematical concepts that permeate business, science and everyday life. The primary focus is on mathematical tools needed in a variety of degree programs. Topics include: functions and graphs, linear, polynomial and rational equations, inequalities and their applications, modeling, variation, and systems of equations. Prerequisite: high school-level algebra.The course does not count for credit if taken after any higher mathematics course. May not be audited.

This course is conducted completely online. A technology fee will be added to tuition.

This course covers the following: limits; differentiation; linear approximation and related rates; extreme value theorem, mean value theorem, and curve-sketching; optimization. This course was formerly MATH 220-CN. Prerequisite: a solid foundation in algebra, trigonometry, and geometry.

This course covers the following: limits; differentiation; linear approximation and related rates; extreme value theorem, mean value theorem, and curve-sketching; optimization. Through this course students will explore, tangle with, and ultimately master the fundamental techniques of differential calculus, all of which stem from the limit and all of which revolve around wielding the derivative as a powerful tool for understanding the mathematical and physical world. The course is conducted completely online. A technology fee will be added to tuition. Credit not allowed for both MATH 220-A-DL and MATH 220-A. Students who have previously completed MATH 220-A or MATH 220-CN should not register for this course.

Prerequisite: a solid foundation in algebra, trigonometry, and geometry.

This course will introduce students to marketing research and the marketing research process. Students will examine the fundamental concepts and techniques used in marketing research and learn the value of marketing research with respect to decision-making in marketing and in business. We’ll discuss problem formulation, research design, survey design, sampling, data collection, and data analysis as well as how to effectively present the data and insights uncovered during the marketing research process. We’ll also explore qualitative and quantitative research methods, primary and secondary research, exploratory and causal research, and data visualization techniques. Throughout the course, students will gain hands-on experience in conducting, analyzing, and presenting both qualitative and quantitative research.

This course is conducted completely online. A technology fee will be added to tuition.

Our contemporary lives are shaped by participation in commercial, social, and government organizations. This course uses social science research to explicate the dimensions of formal organizations and show how they influence our public and private behavior. The course will investigate sources of organizational success (positive function) and failure. Students will learn how to address organizational dysfunction through applying research-based solutions. Exercises include case study scenarios, role-play videos, simulations, and path-dependent decision making. By the end of the course, students will be able to diagnose organizational problems and devise targeted remedies.

This course is conducted completely online. A technology fee will be added to tuition.

This course provides an introduction to probability and statistics theory and foundational data science applications. The focus will be on the analysis of data using computer software, and the approach is is conceptual—the goal is for students to understand, not to memorize. Important concepts include samples versus populations, normal curves and the central limit theorem, sampling distributions, standard errors, statistical inference, correlation and regression, t-tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and the chi-squared test. The replication crisis in science and how bad statistics helped cause it will also be discussed. There are no formal prerequisites for this course. Recommended skills include comfort with basic algebra and some experience with spreadsheet software, such as Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.

This course is conducted completely online. A technology fee will be added to tuition.