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Online Graduate Certificate in Marketing

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Enhance your marketing skill set and increase your career prospects with this graduate certificate.

Marketing Graduate Certificate Highlights

High Quality Education

The Online Graduate Certificate in Marketing at the University of Cincinnati is designed for individuals who want to develop the analytical and technical skills needed to work with today’s complex marketing issues for making more effective business decisions. From product development to creating a robust communications plan, this online marketing certificate offers training in the tools, technology and tactics needed to successfully build bridges between your organization and its customers.

In this top-ranked program, you’ll gain:

  • Knowledge of buyer behavior analysis and behavioral science as it relates to product consumption
  • Insight for developing an integrated marketing communications plan
  • Knowledge of new product development, including product mix, product development and strategy, and product-market integration

Flexibility

  • 100% online
  • Start in the fall, spring, or summer semester
  • Only 12 credit hours

Support from Application through Graduation

At UC, you’ll have a full support team behind you:


The certificate includes one core course (two semester credits) and four to five elective courses (10 semester credits). The prerequisite Marketing Foundations course is required for students without a marketing background.

  • Prerequisites: 1 credit
  • Core Course: 2 credits
  • Electives: 10 credits

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Students without a marketing background may be required to take the marketing foundation course.
Course Title/Description Credit
MKTG7000

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
All students are required to take the following core course (2 hours).
Course Title/Description Credit
MKTG7035

Marketing Strategy for Managers 

This course aims to develop a conceptual framework for strategic planning and introduce a handful of analytical tools. Importantly, strategy involves wrestling with knotty problems and testing solutions in a group context. Therefore, we develop descriptive familiarity and some analytical prowess around real problems and develop vital points of reference we can utilize in future, analogous circumstances. We analyze marketing cases that pivot on substantial, contemporary issues involving branding, market selection, business definition, program development and management, among others.

2
Students must complete 10 credit hours of electives of which all must be in the graduate marketing discipline 7000 or above. Basic Business Knowledge Course MKTG 7000 cannot be used as an elective.
Course Title/Description Credit
MKTG 7014

Systematic Innovation Tools

This course focuses on how to create value and growth through innovation in new and existing markets. Students will learn the skills of innovation and how to apply those skills within the context of a marketing strategy framework. Students will apply innovation methods across the entire marketing management continuum including strategy, segmentation, targeting, positioning, and the 4P's. The course will be taught using interactive workshop methods and techniques throughout. Students will first experience these facilitation techniques while learning innovation.They will then learn and practice these techniques so that they can apply them routinely throughout their graduate experience and beyond.

2
MKTG 7015

Buyer Behavior

Consumer behavior is the study of human responses to products, services, and the marketing of these products and services. The topic is of critical importance to managers because the focus on the consumer is the key contribution of marketing to business practice; other business functions (e.g.,finance, accounting, production) ignore the consumer. Managers who really understand the consumer develop better products and services, and also market their products and services more effectively.

2
MKTG 7020

New Product Development

Students will study the process of market analysis, customer needs assessment, new product concept development, and market launch strategy.

2
MKTG 7025

Advertising and Marketing Communication

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to elements of advertising and promotion.The course is designed from the perspective of managers who will need to make decisions about marketing communications programs. Topics covered include: setting objectives, positioning, target audience selection, creative strategy, media strategy, advertising research and evaluation. The marketing communications program is seen as one part of the overall marketing mix. The material covered in the course is relevant for all types of organizations (large, small, public, or private).

2
MKTG 7028

Marketing Ethics

This course is designed to provide MS/MBA students with a broad, practical overview of ethical issues in marketing. Drawing from moral philosophy and cognitive psychology, students will acquire and refine analytical and managerial decision-making skills through the application of ethical principles to moral dilemmas represented in case examples. The primary emphasis of this course is on managerial decision-making. A central theme of this course is that good decisions are informed by a thorough understanding of the subjective biases to which individual human judgments and group decisions are prone.

2
Prerequisites
  • Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution

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).

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

One letter of recommendation is needed for the Certificate program. Please provide the name, mailing address and email address of your recommender.

Goal statement that clearly states how this program will benefit you and further your career.

Current resume or CV.

At the University of Cincinnati, we offer multiple start dates to accommodate your schedule. 
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.

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