An online MBA in finance is one of the more common specializations you can choose from out of the many concentrations available for MBA degree programs. This two-year graduate program is designed to prepare business students for careers in the financial sector, while giving them a thorough education in business administration. The online MBA in finance is convenient for many working professionals because the program allows them to access all their courses from the comfort of their own homes or any other Wi-Fi hotspot.

What Does an MBA in Finance Cover?

An online finance MBA is a challenging graduate program that typically takes two years of full-time study to complete. Some online MBA finance programs are set up to take less than two years or are accelerated to help students finish out their degree more quickly. Even so, many students opt to complete their MBA finance online part-time, thus taking more than two years to complete it; it really depends on how much time you have in your week to devote to school. Students who did not complete their undergraduate degree in business usually must start out taking introductory courses and prerequisites that introduce them to the graduate program while those who earned a bachelor’s degree in business can launch right into their core courses.

Core courses are designed to give students a comprehensive education in business administration and include courses in management, financial accounting, marketing management, business communication, organizational leadership, statistical data analysis and business law and ethics. Student must also complete three to five courses directly related to finance to fulfill the finance specialization requirement. These specialization courses might include: corporate finance, capital markets theory & practice, investment theory & applications, and computational finance. Students completing their MBA in finance round out their studies with open electives related to business administration or finance. In between their first and second years, students completing their finance MBA online are encouraged or required to complete an internship for college credit. Finally, the highlight of any good MBA in finance online is a capstone project where students apply what they learn in the classroom to a real-world problem. Quantitative research is often an important component of the capstone project.

Getting Into a Finance MBA Program

Students interested in enrolling in a finance MBA program will need to first have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution. The degree does not need to be in the field of business, though taking courses in business topics, such as business foundations, business law, and introduction to finance, can increase a student’s chances of gaining admittance. Most schools require that students have an average undergraduate GPA of 2.0 or higher, though some schools may have a higher minimum GPA requirement. In addition to these things, applicants should be prepared to submit the following documents along with their completed application:

• college transcript
• proof of GMAT scores
• current resume detailing previous work experience
• essays following provided prompt
• letter of program intent

Some schools, such as American InterContinental University do not require these additional documents, but as all universities differ in their application requirements, students should check directly with their prospective schools to determine what needs to be submitted.

Why Should I Get an AACSB Accredited Finance MBA?

The first thing you should do when choosing online MBA finance programs is make sure the business school offering the program is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). The AACSB is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to advancing quality management education and serves as an accreditor for undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programs in business and accounting. With accreditation from the AACSB, you can rest assured that you have chosen a reputable MBA program that will challenge you and will earn a degree that is respected in the job market. People who stand to benefit from completing a MBA online finance program include those who are already employed in a business field and those who want to transition into the business world from another occupation. The courses, projects and internships built into an online finance MBA degree program will equip businessmen and women with the skills and education they need to advance in their current career to mid- and top-level management careers. While a finance MBA degree online is a specialized degree preparing students for careers or advancements in the financial sector, the degree is still versatile enough to help you land careers in other areas, such as marketing and operations management.

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What Jobs Can an MBA Finance Online Get Me?

• Financial Manager:
  A financial manager is responsible for supervising and handling the financial activities of a business or organization. They prepare financial reports, oversee investments and devise strategies for cash management. They also develop ideas about methods to save money as an organization and ways to put current assets to better use. Financial managers are often responsible for creating financial blueprints of an organization and explaining financial data to managers in other departments. Within the umbrella of financial managers are the positions of controllers, treasurers, credit managers, and cash managers. So, financial managers may handle a wide variety of different tasks, depending on where they work and their specific areas of expertise.
• Stockbroker:
  A stockbroker is responsible for investing in the stock market in the name of individuals or organizations. Stockbrokers advise clients on investment decisions. They try to gain as much information as possible about their clients’ needs and financial standing in order to help them make the best investments possible in order to reach their goals. Stockbrokers may have clients who want to invest a small amount in a stable company and watch their investment grow over time, or they may have clients with huge amounts of investment capital who are looking to make a profit as soon as possible. Stockbrokers must have an in-depth understanding of the way the stock market works so they can help their clients make sound financial decisions.
• Claims Adjuster:
  Claims adjusters work for insurance companies and are responsible for investigating insurance claims. The adjustor is charged with determining the cause of the claim, the value of the loss, and whether the claim is covered by the policy. They gather as much information as possible by interviewing the claimant and any witnesses, reviewing property damage, and consulting hospital and police records. Claims adjusters then work to negotiate settlements with customers and authorize payment amounts. Claims adjusters often consult with professionals in specialized fields, such as architects, engineers, lawyers and doctors, in order to gather expert opinions to help with claims decisions.

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How Do I Find Online Finance MBA Programs?

Plenty of online finance MBA schools are out there, but sometimes they can be difficult to find. After all, you’re searching for the best programs, not just any fly-by-night degree. The best place to begin your search for online MBA programs in finance is the AACB website. By resting your cursor over the “accreditation” tab, you’ll have the option to click on the “accredited institutions” tab to explore a comprehensive list of accredited business schools from around the world. From here, you can start looking for programs that are local to your area, and more importantly, for online MBA programs that offer a specialization in finance. Online finance MBA rankings are also useful, although you’ll be hard-pressed to find a reputable ranking system that gets that specific. However, you can search available rankings of traditional MBA programs by searching:

• U.S. News & World Report
• Bloomberg Businessweek
• Financial Times
• Economist

Even though these resources rank traditional MBA programs, a good many traditional programs are offered in an online format as well, so the rankings are worth a search. Another useful resource if you are looking for online programs only is the Online Education Database (OEDb), which ranks the best online colleges using consistent metrics, such as graduation rate, retention rate and student-to-teacher ratio. While the OEDb doesn’t currently rank MBA programs, it does provide a listing of quality online schools that you can research that may offer quality MBA programs.

Additional Resources:

• U.S. News & Report Best Finance Programs
• Association for Financial Professionals
• The Journal of Finance