Top Financial Analyst Courses - Q2 2023

Content Coverage (5/5)

This course is one of five courses that make up the Essentials of Corporate Finance Specialization program by The University of Melbourne. The course is organized into four weeks, each containing brief video lectures,  practice quizzes, quizzes, and reflections.  There are also three peer assessments and a final exam. The course contains all the minimal topics expected for financial analysis and is presented in an order that makes sense to the material being covered.

Lecture Quality (5/5)

Instructor Paul Kofman has been a Professor of Finance at The University of Melbourne for 22 years.  In 2018 he co-authored “A Matter of Trust”, regarding ethical behavior in finance.  Instructor Sean Pinter is currently an Associate Professor with the Department of Finance at the University of Melbourne.  He has written in several international journals, whose works have been recognized by several associations, such as the Australian Learning and Teaching Council.

Each lecture is supported with PowerPoint slides, and market analysis charts and tools. The lectures are presented with confidence, using real-life examples from companies with brand recognition.  Analysis tools are used during the lectures to show real-life company performance.

Quiz Quality (5/5)

There are four total quizzes in the course, concluding at the end of each week.  Each quiz contains 10 multiple-choice questions, worth 10 points each, for a total of 40 points.  Feedback is provided with each answer which advises the learner on what section of the course to refer back to.  There can be three attempts to the quiz every 15 days, and the minimum passing grade is 50%.  All quizzes count for 10% of the total course grade.

There is one cumulative final exam required at the end of the course, worth 40 points.  The exam is all multiple-choice and auto-graded. Like the quizzes, there can be three attempts to the quiz every 15 days, and the minimum passing grade is 50%.  All quizzes count for 10% of the total course grade.

Assignment/Exercise Quality (4.5/5)

In week four, three peers assessed assignments are required, worth twenty points each.  The assignments are very well constructed and cover ratios, net present value, and financial statements.  Clear grading instructions are provided fo reach.

Each assignment is worth 10% of the total course grade, requires a minimum of 50% to be considered a passing grade; and can be submitted up to three times every two hours.

Learners are also expected to review assignments submitted by their peers.  For conscientious learners, this can be an excellent learning tool.  However, neither submissions nor reviews are supervised by the instructor.

Certificate Brand Quality (5/5)

The Language and Tools of Financial Analysis course is presented by the University of Melbourne through Coursera. The University of Melbourne is ranked the number one university in Australia and has been in existence for over 160 years.  The university currently holds accreditation with AACSB International.

Content Coverage (5/5)

The Corporate Finance I: Measuring and Promoting Value Creation course is the fifth course offered within the Financial Management Specialization by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign through Coursera. All the expected topics for a financial analytics course are covered within this course in a sequence that makes sense for the subject matter being presented.

The course is organized into 4 modules, each consisting of 10-15 brief video lectures, readings, practice quizzes and module quizzes.

Lecture Quality (5/5)

The course is led by two professors from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Heitor Almeida, a Ph.D. in Economics, has participated in a host of scholarly business journals, such as the Journal of Banking and Finance. He also works at the National Bureau of Economic Research as a Research Associate when he is not teaching.

Stefan Zeume, a Ph.D. in Finance, has worked within a number of scholarly publications, such as Review of Corporate Finance Studies and Review of Financial Studies. He is also currently the instructor of Cases in Financial Strategy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Each lecture ranges from 2 to 15 minutes in time and contains illustrations and mathematical examples that accompany what the instructor is teaching.  There are questions presented throughout the lecture, providing time for the learner to calculate the answer.  Directly after, the lecturer provides the answer and how to get to that answer with a detailed explanation.

Dr. Zeume presented confidently the information and data in an understandable fashion and explained each example in detail.  Dr. Almeida has a relatively strong accent, which may be a barrier for some learners.  We did not find the content difficult to understand.

Quiz Quality (5/5)

The course presents two to three practice quizzes throughout the course, which are a mix of multiple-choice and true/false questions. The average number of questions per practice quiz is five to six; with the minimum score required to pass the practice quizzes is 80%. The learner should expect to commit 30 minutes of time on each practice quiz.

There is one graded quiz presented at the end of each module, with a 30-minute time limit.  The passing score required for each graded quiz is 70%.   Learners can retake the quiz up to two times every four hours.   Quiz questions are presented in a mix of multiple choice and true/false and cover the following subjects per quiz:

Quiz 1: The Objective of the Corporation and Analysis of Financial Ratios (15 total questions)

Quiz 2: Financial Planning (12 total questions)

Quiz 3: Making Investment Decisions (12 total questions)

Quiz 4:  Mergers and Acquisitions, Risk, and Performance Evaluation (15 total questions

Assignment/Exercise Quality (4/5)

There are some Excel spreadsheets and downloadable sources that accompany this course to support the lectures.  There are also non-mandatory, peer-graded assignments presented in both modules two and four.

Each assignment contains clear and straightforward instructions, with a detailed breakdown of a scoring guide. The questions are presented in a video presentation by one of the lecturers, coupled with charts and other illustrations.  Next, the learner is asked to provide their answers to each question electronically on the site; thereafter, they will submit for a peer review.  The assignments should take one to two hours to complete each, and the minimum passing score is 70%.

Learners are also expected to review assignments submitted by their peers.  For conscientious learners, this can be an excellent learning tool.  However, neither the student submissions nor the review responses are monitored.

Certificate Brand Quality (5/5)

The course is provided by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign through Coursera, and is a part of the university’s current MBA curriculum.  It also offers a shareable certificate upon satisfactory completion of the course.  The University of Illinois through Urbana-Champaign is a currently accredited member of the Higher Learning Commission and has been established since 1913.

Content Coverage (5/5)

This self-paced course is organized into four, 1-week modules consisting of brief video lectures, readings, practice quizzes, and final, module quizzes.   This course covers all of the minimum topics expected for financial analysis and the sequence is logical and easy to follow.

Lecture Quality (4/5)

Xi Yang received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Economics at Renmin University of China. She then went on to receive her Ph.D. in Economics at the prestigious Cornell University. She is currently an MBA progressor of corporate finance, investments, and quantitative methods at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign.

Each lecture averages from three to ten minutes, with 10-minute reading requirements within each module.  Dr. Yang is very confident in the material being presented, however, does appear to read quite a bit from the PowerPoint decks provided in the lecture, which can make the delivery a bit stale.  She does use public financial statements of real corporations, and regulatory websites, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, when presenting.

Quiz Quality (5/5)

The learner will be able to test the retention of information presented in the course very well, as there are three to five practice quizzes and a final quiz for each module.  Each practice quiz ranges from one to eight multiple-choice questions for which the learner is given 10 minutes to complete.  Final quizzes are longer and more comprehensive (20-40 questions).

A score of 80% is required to earn credit for all quizzes.  Practice quizzes can be taken as many times as necessary, and module quizzes can be taken up to three times every eight hours.  Each quiz provides feedback to each answered question.

Assignment/Exercise Quality (4.5)

There are two peer-reviewed assignments required in both weeks three and four. The peer-reviewed assignments cover investments, annuity, and perpetuity. There are two hours of time allotted to complete each assignment, which are then submitted for review by at least two peers.  A passing grade of 70% or higher is required for the review assessment.

The learner is also expected to review submissions from their peers.  For the conscientious learner, this can be an excellent tool.  However, neither the submissions nor the peer reviews are monitored by the instructor.

Certificate Brand Quality (5/5)

This course does offer a shareable certificate upon completion of the course. The course is provided by the University of Illinois through Urbana-Champaign through Coursera. The course is also a part of the university’s current Master of Science curriculum.

University of Illinois through Urbana-Champaign is a current accredited member of the Higher Learning Commission and has been in establishment since 1913.

Content Coverage (5/5)

Finance Foundations: The Essence of Finance hosted by LinkedIn is designed for beginner learners in the field of finance.  The course is structured into 9 modules comprised of short, focused video lectures, and a quiz.  The learner can expect to commit 3 hours of total time to the course.  The course offers topics expected as minimum topics for this subject matter.

Lecture Quality (5/5)

Each lecture video is short, averaging two to three minutes.  lecturers are easy to understand and present the material in a clear and concise manner. Simple and well-designed graphics are used throughout each lecture to help the learner visualize more complex concepts.  The lectures are accompanied by one downloadable PDF file containing six definitions used throughout the course.

Quiz Quality (5/5)

There are quizzes administered at the end of each module.  Each quiz varies in the number of questions – up to 14 questions.  Learners are presented with one question at a time.  Upon submission of the question, immediate feedback is provided as well as link back to the video lecture covering the related material.

There is also a cumulative final exam totaling 35 questions. Each question provides immediate feedback to the answer given by the learner. There appears to be no set time limit on the quiz.

The learner must score 70% or higher on the final exam to be considered passing.

Assignment/Exercise Quality (1/5)

There are no assignments or exercises offered in this course.

Certificate Brand Quality (5/5)

The course is led in tandem by two lecturers, Earl and Jim Stice.  Earl Stice is currently a PricewaterhouseCoopers Professor of Accounting at Brigham Young University, as well as a professor abroad. Jim Stice is a Professor of Accounting in the School of Accountancy at Brigham Young University and has been with the university since 1988.

A LinkedIn Learning Certificate is available after the final exam is taken at the end of the course.  The plus is that this course is associated with the National Association of State Board of Accountancy (NASBA), which means the learner can earn CPE 6.8 credits.

CPE credits or continuing professional education credits are necessary in maintaining professional licenses.  The learner will need to earn a 70% or higher on the exam to qualify for the CPE credits and the LinkedIn Learning Certificate.

Content Coverage (5/5)

The Finance Markets course is structured into seven, 1-week modules, each including video lectures, 10-minute reading requirements, and required quizzes, one of which is the final exam.

The course covers an array of both technical and real-life topics, discussed by both the lecturer and in a conversational tone with a select few of his students.

Most minimal topics are covered in this course, outside of an overview of financial statements.

Lecture Quality (4.5/5)

Robert Shiller has an impressive background, as a current Professor of Economics at Yale University. He has over 50 years of post-graduate experience in economics, after receiving his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1972. He has written on various financial markets, such as financial, macroeconomics, and statistics. He has also been published in several scholarly publications, such as the Princeton University Press in 2019, and the Presidential Address before American Economic Association in 2017.

Dr. Shiller presents his lectures in a small to midsize auditorium setting with a large presentation overhead screen.  The presentation screen is clearly visible to the learner. The lectures contain bullet points that outline the lecture talking points, charts, and graphs, such as bell curves to explain the standard deviation.  Dr. Shiller is extremely knowledgeable but can be somewhat bland and long-winded as a presenter.

There are also “chalk-talk” vignettes in which Dr. Shiller explains specific topics while drawing on a whiteboard. These lectures tend to be a bit more engaging.

Quiz Quality (5/5)

Each module contains up to three 30-minute quizzes delivered immediately after the related lecture and some include non-required “honors” quizzes. Each quiz is delivered as a series of multiple-choice questions that are automatically graded upon submission.  However, feedback is not provided for questions answered incorrectly.  A grade of 80% is required to be considered passing.

A final exam is required at the end of the course, comprised of 21 multiple-choice questions, worth one point each.  Thirty minutes of time is allotted for the exam, with three attempts allowed every eight hours.  A grade of 80% is required to be considered passing.

Assignment/Exercise Quality (1/5)

There are no assignments or exercises offered for this course.

Certificate Brand Quality (5/5)

This course does offer a shareable certificate upon satisfactory completion of the course.  The course is offered by Yale, a prestigious ivy league school, \through Coursera.  Yale has been in existence since 1701 and is currently accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.  A certificate from Yale is ver likely to impress employers.

Content Coverage (5/5)

This course is organized in 12 modules, each containing video lectures, short quizzes, and optional discussion forums.  The modules are set up to present a new subject every five days.  The course covers all minimum topics necessary for financial analysis in a sequence that allows learners to build their knowledge easily.

Lecture Quality (5/5)

The course is taught by three MIT professors with excellent credentials.

Some presenters use writing boards as they present, and some use Powerpoint slides and other visuals.  Each lecturer presents confidently and provides real-life examples within the lectures. Downloadable documents are available within the course under the “additional” documents section of the modules; however, none of the resources appear to be used along with the lectures.

Some of the videos are longer than 15 minutes, which may not suit some adult learners.

Quiz Quality (4.5/5)

There 12 quizzes that end each section.  Each of these quizzes contains 5 multiple-choice, multiple-select, or fill-in-the-blank questions.  Learners can submit each question individually to receive immediate correct/incorrect feedback.  Questions can be answered as many times as necessary until they are answered correctly.  There is no minimum score required.

There is also a final exam that contains 20 questions.  This is far too short of an exam to test knowledge of all of the material covered in the course.  Like the section quizzes, the final exam questions are submitted one at a time and can be submitted as many times as necessary to answer the question correctly.

Assignment/Exercise Quality (1/5)

There are no assignments or exercises offered in this course.

Certificate Brand Quality (5/5)

The Fundamentals of Entrepreneurial Finance course is offered by the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology or MIT, through edX.  A verifiable certificate is offered after the completion of the course, which can be utilized as a resume builder.  MIT was established in 1861 and has played a key role in the development of modern science. MIT currently holds accreditation from the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE).