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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Finance for Non-Finance Professionals by Rice University

4.8
stars
2,793 ratings

About the Course

This short course surveys all the major topics covered in a full semester MBA level finance course, but with a more intuitive approach on a very high conceptual level. The goal here is give you a roadmap and framework for how financial professional make decisions. We will cover the basics of financial valuation, the time value of money, compounding returns, and discounting the future. You will understand discounted cash flow (DCF) valuation and how it compares to other methods. We also step inside the mind of a corporate financial manager and develop the basic tools of capital budgeting. We will survey the how, when, and where to spend money, make tradeoffs about investment, growth, dividends, and how to ensure sound fiscal discipline. Our journey then turns to a Wall Street or capital markets perspective of investments as we discuss the fundamental tradeoff between risk and return. We then synthesize our discussion of risk with our valuation framework and incorporate it into series of direct applications to practice. This course requires no prior familiarity with finance. Rather, it is intended to be a first step for anyone who is curious about understanding stock markets, valuation, or corporate finance. We will walk through all of the tools and quantitative analysis together and develop a guide for understanding the seemingly complex decisions that finance professionals make. By the end of the course, you will develop an understanding of the major conceptual levers that push and pull on financial decision making and how they relate to other areas of business. The course should also serve as a roadmap for where to further your finance education and it would be an excellent introduction of any students contemplating an MBA or Finance concentration, but who has little background in the area....

Top reviews

CI

May 23, 2023

I come from untraditional background but I find this course is very helpful! The course is very well-structured, allowing me to simply and easily understand finance foundation.

JD

May 4, 2020

This class is an excellent introduction to capital budgeting and finance. It is an excellent primer for understanding how businesses can use these tools to analyze transactions.

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326 - 350 of 610 Reviews for Finance for Non-Finance Professionals

By Amit C

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May 31, 2020

Well structured course to understand Finance

By RaimiRazi

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Jun 21, 2025

recommended, very good for engineer Manager

By Kiama R

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Oct 24, 2023

well explained, easy and fast to comprehend

By Charul T

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Sep 8, 2021

Easy to comprehend and appropriately paced.

By Ruben A L V

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Jul 5, 2020

Very interesting course and well structured

By ÖMÜR Y

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Aug 25, 2019

Thank you very much for this nice tutorial.

By Deleted A

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May 28, 2019

It was good. Well worth my time and effort.

By Laurene F

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Sep 20, 2023

Cours très intéressant et complet, merci !

By Lam T

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Jun 5, 2023

Quite difficult for the week 5 assignment.

By Neeraj G

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Feb 22, 2022

Great course for non finance professionals

By ESHAN J

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Jul 15, 2020

It was a great learning experience for me.

By YUSUF Y

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Aug 27, 2019

Thanks for all this perfect experience :))

By Rui C

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Feb 5, 2021

Awesome course! Inspiring and refreshing.

By Pratyush J

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Jan 25, 2021

Thank you Professor, really learnt a lot.

By Gerardus W T

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Sep 22, 2019

Really helpful, easy to understand course

By Shanshan W

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Dec 21, 2017

Great class for non-finance professionals

By Samir S

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Mar 10, 2020

Very specific and clear explanation !!!

By ERGUN E

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Aug 31, 2019

Thank you for such valuable oppotunity.

By Deleted A

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Nov 19, 2018

Very informative and easy to understand

By DEVINDER S

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Dec 20, 2023

Great introduction to business finance

By Aster H

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Jul 28, 2020

Really great intro course for finance!

By Ronald R T

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Aug 18, 2020

amazing amazing course. Learned a ton

By Suman G

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Nov 22, 2024

Basic Concepts are very well covered

By umer s

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Oct 22, 2022

The course was very well structured.

By Mohamad A

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Dec 29, 2018

Great course for non-finance people!