Master of Science in Leadership with Concentration in Marketing Concentration

at Golden Gate University USA

This degree is designed for students who aspire to become financial planners, investment advisers, or money managers, or who may be interested in one of the many elements of this broad and rapidly-growing field. By pursuing a financial planning education at Golden Gate University, students will move into the 21st century equipped with the latest skills, with appropriate professional credentials, and with advanced academic degrees. This course of study also satisfies the educational requirements necessary for the premier Certified Financial Planner™ designation.

The work of the financial planner is best viewed through a "quality of life" lens: How can one assist one's clients in achieving their life goals and realizing their dreams? There are important technical issues to be addressed: What tax structure is best suited for my client? What asset allocation provides the desired risk/return profile?

Many of the critical questions have to do with the kind of life the client envisions, and how the client's emotional and psychological predispositions facilitate or obstruct the development of successful financial plans. It is the overarching objective of the Master of Science in Financial Planning to ensure that our graduates have both the technical skills and the relationship skills needed to create and deliver financial strategies that will support their clients' progress towards their most important life goals.

Online courses allow students to pursue a strictly online financial planning degree. Students can apply for admission, sign up for classes, communicate with professors and other students, and access all course information online at any time. This allows you to study financial planning from the comfort of your home, rather than having to find a financial planning school nearby that fits in your schedule.

Learning Outcomes

Graduates of the master of financial planning degree program will possess:

• The skills and knowledge of financial planning that are represented in the full range of topics covered by the CFP™ examination.
• Interpersonal skills necessary to maintain successful client relationships and to work effectively with colleagues, individually or in teams.
• The quantitative, analytical, and technical skills needed to address complex financial situations.
• The ability to apply their knowledge to real-world problems in financial planning.
• Knowledge of the legal and regulatory environment in which financial planning occurs and familiarity with relevant licensing, reporting, and compliance requirements.
• The ability to recognize the ethical dilemmas that may arise in financial planning practice and familiarity with appropriate responses to those dilemmas, as reflected in the CFP™ Board's Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility.

In the MSADA and certificate programs, students can gain essential skills that in-demand accounting professionals need in today's data-rich environment. The MSADA offers concentrations in CPA applied accounting, advanced analytics for accountants, essentials of leadership, or taxation. The Advanced Analytics for Accountants Concentration is a STEM-designated degree program.

Plus, graduate certificates are available in Accounting Data & Analytics, Accounting Foundations, Advanced Analytics for Accountants, and CPA Applied Accounting.

This MSADA program satisfies the 150-hour education requirement to become a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and the CPA Applied Accounting Concentration offers live instruction to guide students through the CPA exam.

Estate Planning Concentration

A structured graduate concentration program designed to prepare CFP-certificated students for a career in Estate planning and gift taxation. The concentration in Estate Planning gives CFP® students an intimate knowledge of estate law, such as lifetime gifting, marital deduction planning, and alternate forms of wealth transfer. In addition to estate planning, graduates with this concentration learn about dealing with the financial aspects of individual retirement plans and the laws surrounding taxation of trusts and estates as well as the interpersonal skills needed when dealing with such sensitive issues as estate planning and personal finance.

Golden Gate University's Master of Science in Taxation (MST) is one of the most prestigious tax programs in the country, having earned a reputation for providing the most comprehensive and practical education available. The curriculum stresses real-world content that prepares students to be knowledgeable tax professionals. Courses cover general and specialized tax subjects, including: estate and gift tax; partnerships; C corporations; LLCs and S corporations; California and multi-state tax; international tax; retirement plans; tax issues for individuals; and tax research.

Students can choose to complete the degree in-person or web-conference, as part of an Accelerated MST Day Cohort?, or take courses online at a pace that convenient for them.

The program provides thorough and current knowledge of tax concepts, trends and practices in an environment that promotes the development of analytic and communication skills.

Learning Outcomes

Graduates of the Master of Science in Taxation program will:

• Demonstrate the ability to identify tax issues, determine the applicable relevant primary authority, analyze relevant primary authority and apply the authorities to reach well-reasoned oral or written conclusions.
• Demonstrate basic knowledge and understanding of IRS practice and procedure and be able to represent a client in a tax controversy.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the ethics and standards of professional responsibilities applicable to tax practitioners.

Gain Cutting-Edge Leadership Skills

Golden Gate University’s breakthrough leadership programs are based on extensive input from corporate partners, industry groups, leading scholars, and leverage the university’s decades-long successes in developing high achieving leaders in the innovative crucible of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Learn From Instructors Who Teach What They Do

Courses are taught by instructors who also work in some of the Bay Area’s largest and most successful organizations. They bring cutting-edge knowledge from the field to the classroom, teaching skills that are immediately applicable to the real world.

Future-Proof Your Career

The pace of change across industries is quickening. New technologies are disrupting established businesses at an accelerated rate. We are operating in an ever interconnected global world. Jobs once performed by professionals will soon be automated or outsourced. What was certain today well may be uncertain tomorrow. Are you prepared for how management and leadership will evolve as a result?

Individualized Concentration
In the competitive global marketplace, effective management of human resources is necessary for success. Students learn to understand the human resource issues brought about by technology and the international business environment, and how to apply their knowledge as a human-resources professional in organizations. Students will choose among courses to learn how to hire, train, develop, retain, compensate, and ethically manage a workforce.

The Golden Gate University (GGU) MBA program will advance your leadership skills and business knowledge using an activity-based learning approach. Faculty members are seasoned professionals in their respective fields and will prepare you to lead in today's complex business environment.

GGU's MBA program builds your business acumen, leadership skills, and contextual knowledge throughout the practical degree design. It provides an integrated perspective of management, and allows you to tailor the program with one of several concentrations to meet your professional interests and goals. Concentrations include business analytics, entrepreneurship, project management and even the option to design your own.

Since launching the MBA program more than half a century ago, GGU has pioneered evening and online programs for working professionals to achieve their career objectives. You can proceed at your own pace in deciding how many courses to take in a given trimester and study fully in-person, completely online or a combination of both.

Students in the program come from the San Francisco Bay Area, the United States and more than 50 countries around the world. With our location in the heart of San Francisco's thriving business community, strong connections to Bay Area business leaders, and a distinguished community of more than 70,000 alumni, the educational experience and the networks available to you are unparalleled.

Golden Gate University's Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA) program provides working professionals with knowledge of public affairs, policy, and administration through a challenging and cutting-edge curriculum taught by instructors who are also professionals in the field.

GGU's EMPA program differs from other public administration programs in that it offers accelerated, real-world content intended for experienced professionals. Students can earn an EMPA in as little as 18 months in an entirely online format or through innovative, hybrid cohorts in San Francisco and Silicon Valley.

GGU is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) and has been an institutional member of the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) since 1973.

Who Should Enroll

• The typical EMPA student has five or more years of experience in public or community service, and wants to build skills to move into a supervisory or leadership role.
• Students are highly motivated and diverse in both their experiences and backgrounds. Veteran students can draw upon extensive military benefits, including GGU's participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program.

Concentrations

• General Concentration
• Law Enforcement & Security
• Urban Innovations
• Declaring Concentrations

The Golden Gate University (GGU) MBA program will advance your leadership skills and business knowledge using an activity-based learning approach. Faculty members are seasoned professionals in their respective fields and will prepare you to lead in today's complex business environment.

GGU's MBA program builds your business acumen, leadership skills, and contextual knowledge throughout the practical degree design. It provides an integrated perspective of management, and allows you to tailor the program with one of several concentrations to meet your professional interests and goals. Concentrations include business analytics, entrepreneurship, project management and even the option to design your own.

Since launching the MBA program more than half a century ago, GGU has pioneered evening and online programs for working professionals to achieve their career objectives. You can proceed at your own pace in deciding how many courses to take in a given trimester and study fully in-person, completely online or a combination of both.

Students in the program come from the San Francisco Bay Area, the United States and more than 50 countries around the world. With our location in the heart of San Francisco's thriving business community, strong connections to Bay Area business leaders, and a distinguished community of more than 70,000 alumni, the educational experience and the networks available to you are unparalleled.

The Golden Gate University (GGU) MBA program will advance your leadership skills and business knowledge using an activity-based learning approach. Faculty members are seasoned professionals in their respective fields and will prepare you to lead in today's complex business environment.

GGU's MBA program builds your business acumen, leadership skills, and contextual knowledge throughout the practical degree design. It provides an integrated perspective of management, and allows you to tailor the program with one of several concentrations to meet your professional interests and goals. Concentrations include business analytics, entrepreneurship, project management and even the option to design your own.

Since launching the MBA program more than half a century ago, GGU has pioneered evening and online programs for working professionals to achieve their career objectives. You can proceed at your own pace in deciding how many courses to take in a given trimester and study fully in-person, completely online or a combination of both.

Students in the program come from the San Francisco Bay Area, the United States and more than 50 countries around the world. With our location in the heart of San Francisco's thriving business community, strong connections to Bay Area business leaders, and a distinguished community of more than 70,000 alumni, the educational experience and the networks available to you are unparalleled.

The Master of Science in Information Technology Management program is designed for business professionals who want to advance their careers in positions such as Chief Information Officer (CIO), Chief Technology Officer (CTO), and IT Manager. Classes are taught by professionals who also work in the field at major companies in the Bay Area. A dynamic classroom environment helps to teach real-world skills for the strategic application of IT — including cutting-edge applications of technologies such as business analytics, mobile, cloud services, and social media.

Thrive in a Changing Tech Environment
Contemporary Information Technology (IT) managers are organizational leaders who bridge and integrate the worlds of business and IT. They engage business leaders in the ongoing and innovative application of information technologies that enable business success and have the skill sets to function in a complex discipline with many facets.

Build High-Level Skills
The Master of Science in Information Technology Management (MS ITM) program was designed by faculty with experience in leading-edge technologies to develop professionals suited for the top positions in the IT management field. The degree meets the needs of the modern management-level technology professional responsible for the planning, budgeting, design, integration, and deployment of strategic enterprise technologies and programs that contribute to the business organization's success.

Golden Gate University is located at the nexus of finance and technology in San Francisco's business district. As the finance industry rapidly invents new paradigms in the face of economic change, GGU prepares students to be leaders in the global business world. The Masters of Science in Financial Analytics degree will equip you with the business analytics skills you need to address the challenges of today’s technology-intensive finance industry.

The MS in Financial Analytics is a specialized, technical program that provides in-depth exposure to principles and practices of corporate finance and business analytics. You’ll learn programming, data analysis, business valuation and financial modeling. You’ll leave the program with a highly developed and practiced ability to make strategic decisions using the latest tools in technology, data analysis, business and finance.

Our hands-on faculty are leading practitioners in the fields of business, finance, and technology from the Bay Area and beyond. Our current roster of adjunct faculty hold day jobs at Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan, Facebook, BridgeBio, RGB Spectrum, and B. Riley FBR, Inc.

Learning Outcomes

Graduates of the MS in the Financial Analytics degree program will have the knowledge and skills to:

• Evaluate and explain financial decisions regarding the firm’s investment and long- and short-term financing strategies by applying financial theory, quantitative decision-making tools, and analytical methods.
• Apply economic analysis to the firm’s decision-making, considering the impact of markets, institutions, and international trends on these decisions.
• Define and measure business and financial risk. Describe the relationship between risk and return, and distinguish between expected and required returns. Explain how risk affects the valuation of real and financial assets, and describe techniques for managing risk.
• Interpret and analyze individual business problems using data, selecting the best analytic approach and appropriate tools for extracting value from the data available. Use visual outcomes of analytics to communicate effective messages and recommendations for management teams.