Online Graduate Certificate in Business Foundations
A strong understanding in business can be a competitive advantage for individuals in almost any industry. Whether you’re looking to gain a solid foundation in business for professional growth or explore a single subject, the University of Cincinnati’s online Business Foundations Certificate is designed to help you enhance your skills and knowledge in key business disciplines including accounting, finance, management and marketing.
Business Foundations Graduate Certificate Highlights
High Quality Education
Led by the same award-winning faculty as our graduate programs, the certificate courses are offered entirely online to better accommodate the schedule constraints of working professionals. This certificate provides a foundation in key business disciplines such as accounting, finance, marketing, and management. The certificate is deliberately designed with maximum flexibility to allow students to tailor the program to their individual interests and career needs. The certificate includes six core courses (10 credit hours) and one elective course (two credit hours).
Depending on the options chosen, a participant can complete many of the foundational courses necessary to enter the Lindner College of Business’ Master of Business Administration (MBA) program or apply the courses toward one of the college’s eight specialized master’s programs.
Flexibility
- 100% online
- Only 12 credit hours
- Start in the fall, spring, or summer semester
Support from Application through Graduation
At UC, you’ll have a full support team behind you:
Enrollment Services Advisor: Your partner through the application process, getting enrolled, and starting your program
Student Success Coordinator: Helping you prepare for classes and stay on track
Access to Resources: Access to university resources that will support you through your program including online learning expectations and resources, health and wellness resources, and academic support
UC's online Business Foundations certificate includes six core courses (10 credit hours) and one elective course (two credit hours).
| Course | Title/Description | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| ACCT 7000 | Foundations in Accounting This course educates students in the fundamentals of finance and accounting. The methods covered are used extensively throughout the MBA program. Topics include: the accounting process that results in the preparation of financial statements for external users, techniques for analyzing a basic set of financial statements, using accounting information to support management decisions, and using time value of money techniques to evaluate capital asset decisions. (MS Accounting students cannot earn credit by taking this course.) This course cannot be used as an elective course for Lindner College of Business Master's programs. |
2 |
| FIN 7000 | Foundations in Finance Upon completion of this course, students should be able to: 1. Apply concepts and perform Time Value of Money calculations 2. Understand differences in interest rates (due to differences in risk, horizon, and compounding) 3. Use present value calculations to solve bond pricing and risk applications 4. Use present value calculations to solve stock valuation applications This course cannot be used as an elective course for Lindner College of Business master's programs. |
1 |
| MGMT 7000 | Organizations The purpose of this course is to provide students with a foundation in the study of Organizations (Management) in preparation for the MBA or MS program. The goal is to provide students with an introduction to the study of organizations (strategy, structure, design, and context) to help students navigate through the advanced graduate course work and to become a more effective manager. This entails understanding how organizations work as well as developing requisite personal skills in problem analysis and writing. This course cannot be used for an elective course for Lindner College of Business master's programs. |
2 |
| MKTG 7000 | Marketing Foundations The purpose of this course is to provide students with a foundation in Marketing. Concepts such as segmentation, targeting, positioning, customer and market analysis, and basic marketing planning will be introduced. This course cannot be used as an elective for Linder College of Business master's students. |
1 |
| BANA 7011 | Data Analysis Introduction to data analysis and statistical methods with focus on practical decisions using quantitative models in a spreadsheet environment. Topics include sources of data, descriptive and graphical statistical methods, probability, distributions, sampling and sampling distributions, estimation, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing. This course may not be used as an elective course for Lindner College of Business Master's programs. |
2 |
| ECON 7000 | Foundations in Economics This course provides an introduction to the fundamentals of economics at the graduate level for students without previous economics coursework. Students will be exposed to the essentials of both microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics topics to be discussed include the supply and demand mechanism,how markets are affected by regulation and taxation, costs of production, and how market structure affects outcomes. Macroeconomic topics to be discussed include the fundamental measures of the aggregate economy, the sources of economic growth, explaining short-run fluctuations in economic activity, and how government policies can affect these fluctuations. A particular focus will be to understand how fundamental economic principles at both the micro and macro level can affect companies, investments, industries, and national economies. This course may not be used as an elective course for Lindner College of Business Master's programs. |
2 |
| Course | Title/Description | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| ACCT6XXX+, BA6XXX+, BANA6XXX+, BLAW6XXX+, DASC6XXX+, ECON6XXX+, FIN6XXX+, HUMR6XXX+, IS6XXX+, MGMT6XXX+, MKTG6XXX+, OM6XXX+ | Electives Students must complete 2 credit hours of elective courses, 6000 level or above (graduate level excluding ACCT 7012, BA 7010, BA 7012,BANA 7012, ECON 7020, FIN 7014, MKTG 7011, MGMT 7012, MGMT 7014, OM 7011, IS7011). Although business courses are the norm, business related courses from other colleges are considered with the approval of the academic director. |
2 |
Admittance to the Business Foundations Certificate program is highly selective and based on a combination of criteria including academic and professional achievement, communication skills and a proven history of leadership.
Prerequisites
- Must hold a bachelor’s degree
Complete the online application and submit the application fee.
Standard Application Fees:
- $65.00 for domestic applicants to most degree programs
- $70.00 for international applicants to most degree programs
- $20.00 for domestic applicants to Graduate Certificates
- $25.00 for international applicants to Graduate Certificates
- Application fees are waived for Summer 2026 applications submitted by March 1st, 2026
- Application fees are waived for Fall 2026 applications submitted by July 1st, 2026
- Fee waivers are automatically applied for applicants who:
- are currently serving in the US armed forces
- are veterans of the US armed forces
All applicants are required to upload unofficial transcripts during the application process, showing all undergraduate and graduate course work completed, including degrees granted and dates of conferral.
Official transcripts are not required until the student has received and accepted an offer of admission from the university. Once the offer has been confirmed, the student must submit official transcripts.
Students who have received degrees from the University of Cincinnati do not need to submit official paper copies of their UC transcripts.
Transcripts can be submitted electronically or by mail. To see if your transcript(s) can be ordered electronically, visit the links below and search for your previous school(s).
- Parchment
- Please select “University of Cincinnati – Main Campus” as the recipient of your transcript.
- National Student Clearinghouse
- Please have your transcript sent directly to admissions@uc.edu.
If you do not see your past school(s) listed on either site, please contact the school(s) directly. Then, mail your sealed, unopened, official transcripts to:
Please mail sealed, unopened, official transcripts to:
University of Cincinnati
Office of Admissions
PO Box 210091
Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0091
Current resume or CV.
| Term | Application Deadline | Classes Start |
|---|---|---|
Summer 2026 Fall 2026 Spring 2027 |
April 1, 2026 July 1, 2026 November 15, 2026 |
May 11, 2026 August 24, 2026 January 11, 2027 |
The University of Cincinnati's online course fees differ depending on the program. On average, students will accrue fewer fees than students attending on-campus classes.
The one fee applied across all UC Online programs is the distance learning fee. Students living outside the state of Ohio must also pay an additional “non-resident” fee to enroll in courses at UC Online. This fee is lower than the out-of-state fee for traditional on-campus programs.
To view tuition information and program costs, visit the Online Program Fees page.
- The University of Cincinnati and all regional campuses are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
- The Carl H. Lindner College of Business holds AACSB accreditation. AACSB International business accreditation is an achievement earned only by programs of the highest caliber. Institutions that earn accreditation confirm their commitment to quality and continuous improvement through a rigorous and comprehensive peer review. Less than one-third of U.S. business school programs and only 15% of business school programs worldwide meet the rigorous standards of AACSB International accreditation.
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