Program at a Glance
- Online and On Campus
- Part-Time Study
- 16 Credits
- 8–12 Months to Completion
- 7 Core Faculty
- No GRE/GMAT
- Tuition & Fees—Part-Time Study*: $15,720
*Based on 2024–2025 Boston University tuition and fees.
Understand Investment Analysis & Portfolio Risk
Offered online and on campus, the Graduate Certificate in Investment Analysis at Boston University’s Metropolitan College (MET) provides in-depth knowledge of investment strategies, asset valuation, and investment management. Designed for professionals already working in, or seeking positions in, investment research, risk management, security selection, and portfolio management, the program will prepare you to excel at a variety of careers in finance involving analysis and valuation of financial assets as well as risk management.
As you study the overall investment process, as well as the key elements involved, such as asset allocation and security selection, you will obtain basic understanding of debt, equity, and derivatives securities such as options and futures contracts. BU MET’s Investment Analysis graduate certificate introduces services provided by mutual funds and ensures that you are able to construct portfolios with different risk levels, while gaining an in-depth understanding of systematic and firm-specific risks—and how to reduce firm-specific risk by combining different securities in a portfolio. Additionally, you will study the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) concept; be able to calculate bond prices, accrued interest, promised yields, and realized yields; and understand active bond portfolio management. Moreover, you will learn how to value a firm using constant growth or multistage dividend discount models, financial statements, and financial ratio analysis.
The Investment Analysis certificate is excellent preparation for the internationally recognized Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA) Program exams, and shares courses with BU MET’s MS in Financial Management, which is part of the CFA Institute University Affiliation Program.
MET's online master's degrees in management are ranked #6 in the nation
2024 U.S. News & World Report Rankings
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Our master’s in financial management degree is part of the CFA Institute University Affiliation Program
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Accredited member of AACSB International
The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business
Learn More“As my former students know, I start each course by telling the students, ‘What is happening in the classroom is happening in the business world, and what is happening in the business world is happening in the classroom.’ Academic principles and concepts are the base of our courses and teachings, but I try to bring the practical applications of these principles and concepts to the classroom. I tell a lot of stories in the classroom. The stories are my way of showing the students what really takes place in business and how they can advance in their careers.”—William McGue, Master Lecturer, Administrative Sciences
Why Earn a Graduate Certificate in Investment Analysis at BU?
- Active Learning Environment: BU MET’s Financial Management program focuses on practical, hands-on education, ensuring you are immersed in all aspects of financial management and related research—education you can apply on the job.
- Engaged Faculty: In BU MET’s Financial Management master’s program, you benefit from working closely with highly qualified faculty who draw from active research and substantial professional achievements in areas such as international finance, financial analysis, portfolio management, systemic risk analysis, investment analysis, mergers and acquisitions, economics, financial markets and institutions, and more.
- Extensive Network: Study principles of finance alongside peers with solid business experience, learn from faculty who have valuable business contacts, and benefit from an alumni community with strong professional connections.
- Exam Preparation: The Investment Analysis curriculum provides excellent preparation for the CFA Program exams. BU MET’s MS in Financial Management is part of the CFA Institute University Affiliation Program.
- Complimentary Analytics Labs: Two levels of self-paced analytics laboratories offer access to advanced tools and provide opportunities to hone analytics skills using cases that are populated with realistic data.
- 15:1 Class Ratio: Enjoy an exceptional student-to-instructor ratio, ensuring close interaction with faculty and access to support.
- Valuable Resources: Make use of Boston University’s extensive resources, including the Center for Career Development, Educational Resource Center, Fitness & Recreation Center, IT Help Centers, Mugar Memorial Library, Center for Antiracist Research, Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground, George Sherman Union, and many others.
- Flexible Options: Study at the pace that works for you, evenings on campus or fully online. Courses begin fall, spring, and summer; online courses have two starts per term.
- Track Record: Learn from the best—since 2014, BU MET’s part-time master’s programs in business and management have been ranked among the top in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.
Master the Concepts of Global Finance
The Graduate Certificate in Investment Analysis and the MS in Financial Management (MSFM) are available through the Department of Administrative Sciences, which offers a variety of evening and online degrees and certificates to help you remain competitive in business and management and rise to the top of your field. Focusing on providing industry-specific programs that are innovative, scholarly, challenging, interdisciplinary, and practically focused, our mission is to produce critical and innovative thinkers—broad in perspective, international in attitude, skilled in communications—who are competent, capable, and comfortable in their ability to make strategic decisions either alone or in teams, and practiced in using the tools necessary to compete in their specialization. We prepare students to succeed in a global environment, within a professional and ethical framework.
Graduate with Expertise
Metropolitan College’s Investment Analysis graduate certificate will equip you with:
- Understanding of the overall investment process and the key elements involved in the investment process, such as asset allocation and security selection.
- Basic understanding of debt, equity, and derivatives securities.
- Basic understanding of options and futures contracts.
- Basic understanding of the services provided by mutual funds, and the ability to identify sources of information on investment companies.
- The ability to construct portfolios of different risk levels, given information about risk free rates and returns on risky assets.
- Full understanding of systematic and firm-specific risk, and how one can reduce the amount of firm-specific risk in the portfolio by combining securities with differing patterns of returns.
- Insight on the concept and usage of the capital asset pricing model (CAPM).
- Experience with the calculation of bond prices including accrued interest, promised yields, and realized yields.
- Competence with active bond portfolio management.
- Basic understanding of some of the macroeconomic factors that affect security prices.
- Familiarity with the roles of fiscal and monetary policy in influencing interest rates and security prices.
- The ability to value a firm using either a constant growth or multistage dividend discount model and the price/earnings ratio model; the ability to analyze a firm using the basic financial statements to perform ratio analysis.
- The skills to calculate potential profits resulting from various option trading strategies and to formulate portfolio management strategies to modify the risk-return attributes of the portfolio; the skills to calculate option prices in a two-state world (via a simplified binomial model).
- Comprehension of market timing, timing performance measures, and the problems that timing causes in performance measurement.
Certificate-to-Degree Pathway
BU MET graduate certificate programs can serve as building blocks to a master’s degree. The Graduate Certificate in Investment Analysis shares specific courses with the MS in Financial Management concentration in Investment Analysis. Students currently enrolled in a graduate certificate who are interested in transitioning into a master’s degree should contact their academic advisor to declare their interest in this pathway. A new master’s degree application is not required. Connect with a graduate admissions advisor at adsadmissions@bu.edu to learn more about this option.
Graduate Certificate in Investment Analysis Curriculum
Courses
(Four courses/16 credits)
MET AD 713 Derivative Securities and Markets
MET AD 717 Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management
MET AD 719 Fixed Income Analysis
Plus one of the following:
MET AD 709 Case Studies in Current Corporate Financial Topics
MET AD 712 Financial Markets and Institutions
MET AD 714 Mergers and Acquisitions
MET AD 763 Multinational Finance and Trade
Financial Management Faculty
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Tuition & Financial Assistance
Competitive Tuition
Our part-time rates are substantially lower than those of the traditional, full-time residential programs yet provide access to the same high-quality BU education.Comprehensive Financial Assistance
Our services include scholarships, graduate loans, and payment plans.How Much Does This Program Cost?
BU MET programs offer the flexibility of part-time study, either on campus or online. Tuition, fees, and total program cost are determined by enrollment status. Course enrollment in this certificate program is 1–2 courses (4–8 credits) in a semester, and tuition is charged the part-time per-credit rate.
Investment Analysis Graduate Certificate (Online and On Campus)
| Enrollment Status | Part Time |
| Courses per Semester | 2 courses (8 credits) |
| Time to Degree | 2 semesters (8 months) |
| Tuition* | $550-$975 per credit** |
| Fees per Semester* | $60 |
| Total Degree Cost* | $15,720 |
*Based on 2024-2025 Boston University tuition & fee rates.
**Cost per credit is determined by course number (100–599 = $550/credit, 600–999 = $975/credit).
Questions? Please contact us to hear from an Admissions Advisor who can help you determine the best enrollment pathway. For information regarding financial aid, visit BU MET’s Financial Aid page.
Get Started
Please visit the BU MET admissions page for details on how to apply, financial assistance, tuition and fees, requirements for international students, and more.
*Chartered Financial Analyst is a registered trademark owned by CFA Institute.
