Getting a Graduate Marketing Certificate

Holding a bachelor's degree in marketing offers incredible employment flexibility. However, to really climb the corporate ladder, many find it helpful to further their education by earning a graduate marketing certificate.
 
Today's employers seek people who are highly skilled in marketing and management. If you are a marketing graduate, marketing jobs will be easier to get and hold down with the skills you will earn in a graduate marketing certificate program. Entry-level graduate marketing jobs require that you know how to effectively manage and run ad campaigns, gain new clientele and handle personnel matters for businesses of any size.

Graduate Marketing Courses of Studies

Schooling for an advanced marketing certificate is generally rigorous and intense, as students have a lot of coursework to fit into the two-year program. Typical graduate certificate marketing programs consist of the following courses:
  • Accounting
  • Business Law
  • Corporate Finance
  • Economics
  • Human Resources
  • Management Organization
  • Management Skills
  • Marketing Management
  • Operations Management
  • Production Management.

Certificate program lengths vary. Some schools offer accelerated programs that can be completed in one semester, while others require two to four years of continuing education to earn a graduate marketing certificate.

Graduate Programs in Marketing
If you are interested in focusing on a specific type of marketing, such as sports marketing, graduate programs are available at many online or traditional universities. Just like earning a certificate, graduate sports marketing programs or other types of graduate marketing programs are an excellent way to continue your college education and learn more in-depth concepts and skills.

Tuition Ranges for Marketing Certificates

Schools offering accelerated marketing programs typically charge $5,000 or less for their programs. Those with full-time jobs will find these flexible programs fit easily into busy schedules.
 
A two-year college program averages $20,000 a year in the northeast, while other regions may be half that amount. Some of the finest colleges offering business programs cost upwards of $75,000 per year. The school you choose dictates your program or tuition fees.

Jobs Requiring Graduate Marketing Certificates

After completing a program in marketing, you will have dozens of potential jobs from which to choose. These include:
  • account executive
  • account manager
  • brand marketing manager
  • integrated marketing communications manager
  • marketing assistant
  • product manager.

Salaries range from $28,000 a year as an assistant to $78,000 a year as a product manager. In major corporations, salaries can go as high as $90,000 if you gain seniority. The higher your level of education, the higher your starting salary.

Resources

Cox School of Business Web site (n.d.). Welcome to the Graduate Marketing Certificate Program. Retrieved March 24, 2008, from the Cox School of Business Web site: http://www.cox.smu.edu/certificates/graduatemarketing.

Indeed.com (2008). Marketing Salaries. Retrieved March 25, 2008, from the Indeed site: http://www.indeed.com/salary?q1=marketing&l1.

U.S. News & World Report (2008). America's Best Colleges 2008: Undergraduate Business Specialties: Marketing. Retrieved March 24, 2008, from the U.S. News & World Report Web site: http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/
college/rankings/brief/bizspec08_brief.php.
 
Wharton (n.d.). Wharton University of Pennsylvania Certificate Programs. Retrieved March 25, 2008, from the University of PennsylvaniaWeb site: http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/
academics/certificate/.