Education

ECU Graduate Certificate in Finance – FINISHED!

Thursday, I took my last exam in my graduate certificate program at East Carolina University. It only took two and a half years to complete a four course sequence, but I’m done at last! Looking back at my original post on the program, I realize that my personal and career objectives have changed, and that I probably won’t see any real utility from this certificate (at least not immediately), but I’m still very glad to be done.

Would I recommend the program to others? Well, it’s a mixed bag. On one hand, it’s an AACSB-accredited graduate certificate that is super affordable (less than $3K for the whole program, books and all). On the other hand, ECU’s finance department is horribly understaffed, so the courses you need to complete the program don’t come up often enough. The administration understands this, and has promised to hire more instructors, but I’ve been listening to that for almost three years now. Also, I have some concerns about the workload – I feel like it’s a little too light, and that too much time is spent reviewing basics like time value of money and bond pricing, and not enough time was spent on stuff like derivatives and financial engineering and the more “meaty” topics of finance. Teamwork was generally pretty good, I got to know some of my fellow students well, although there were some terms where I felt like I was carrying three other people on my back.

This was the first program I’ve been in that used proctored exams, and although I was worried about it at first, it proved to be pretty much a non-issue. The UNC system (NC’s public university system, of which ECU is a part) has proctoring down to a science, so finding and utilizing proctors was no big deal – just go to the proctoring website, and point and click till you find someone close by and available.

Overall, it was a positive experience. I didn’t get what I wanted out of the program, but that was more because my life and the economic environment both changed dramatically over the last three years. I had my first child during the program, and the economy went into the toilet, both of which made staying in my current IT job much more appealing that trying to start over again in the world of finance. I did learn a lot, and maybe a little later down the road, I’ll test the waters somewhere else.

What’s next? Well, I think that my wife is ready for me to take a serious hiatus from schoolwork. For basically the entire duration of our ten years together, I’ve been chasing one degree or another, starting with on-campus coursework at NC State, moving on the my BSBA program at Wyoming, through the MBA at Duke, and finally the certificate program at ECU. She’s stood by me the whole time, but I think that it is time that family occupies the center of my life. I’ll continue to be an evangelist for DL, spreading the twin Gospels of CLEP and DSST, but I’m pretty sure I’m done as a student, at least for the foreseeable future.

The Boom and Bust Cycle

Sometimes, especially if you’re a long-dead economist, you have to climb down from your ivory tower and speak to the youth of today in a language that they can understand. In this music video, two giants of economics break down their differing views on how to fix what ails us when it comes to boom and bust.

East Carolina Graduate Certificate Update

I’m passed the halfway mark in my quest to earn East Carolina University‘s graduate certificate in finance. My first two courses went very smoothly, and I earned an “A” grade in both of them. However, after finishing my second course, I came to something of an impasse – there were no more classes in my program offered online, and going to campus during the day is simply not an option for me. Apparently, I’m not the only student with these concerns, because ECU has allowed students in the finance certificate program to use certain courses from the Professional Investment Management and Operations program to satisfy certificate requirements. This is how I find myself in FINA 6904, Mutual Fund Management and Operations. The course has just started, but looks like it will be very interesting material that builds upon the information from my previous finance courses. There is going to be a lot of non-quant stuff as well, but it’s the price I pay to be able to continue with the program instead of just spinning my wheels. Of course, after this course, I’ll have one class remaining. Hopefully, I’ll be able to wrap this up during summer session!

ECU Graduate Certificate Update

I’m slowly progressing in my program at ECU. I took my first exam recently, and think I did pretty well. There are only three assignments left at this point, so I’m thinking ahead to next semester. Over the summer, ECU is offering a course on the finance aspects of non-profit organizations. Even though I don’t see non-profit work (at least full-time) in my future, the course counts towards the certificate, and you never know, I might find myself volunteering or even working in the non-profit world someday. I’d like to get in a class in portfolio management, but I’m not sure that the schedule will work out that way. I’m supposed to choose classes for the summer and fall this week, so I’ll have another update soon.

ECU Finance Program Update

So, I’m a few weeks into my first class, and my first impressions is:

Man, is this ever slow!

I’m used to taking two courses at a time over eight week terms, so a single semester long class means that I’m carrying 1/4 of the load I’m used to. I’m doing well, though – I’ve received a perfect score on every assignment so far. I’m going to be working ahead a little this week, so that I’ll be able to leave the books at home when I go on vacation next week!

Textbooks Are Too Damn Expensive

I purchased the textbook for my real estate finance course (Real Estate Principles: A Value Approach, by Ling and Archer, for those who care) and experienced a bit of sticker shock when I found out the book was $125.00, or $95.00 used. Of course, there were no used copies available, because the book was just released in 2008. Students are being taken for a ride. This book has been updated every other year since it was released in 2004. Does real estate finance change that fast? And if it does, is the new material incorporated into the courses on the subject? Somehow, I think the answer to both questions is “No!” I feel sorry for students who are trying to get through school these days without burying themselves in debt – tuition costs are rising faster than inflation, and expensive textbooks just add to the misery. Eventually, the Internet is going to bury traditional publishers. I hope that day comes soon!

ECU Graduate Certificate in Finance

Cross-posted from a thread I started at DegreeInfo.com:

So, a little less than a year after finishing my MBA program, I’ve decided to tackle a new challenge: a graduate certificate in finance at East Carolina University. This program is four courses long, which the student chooses from any of the Finance electives available to MBA students at ECU.
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