Foundations of Modern Finance I

15.415.1x Foundations of Modern Finance I is the first half of a two-part MIT Sloan course on MITx Online, and part of the MicroMasters Program in Finance. It provides a rigorous introduction to the fundamentals of modern finance and their application to valuation, investments and corporate financial decisions within a unified framework, starting from the role finance plays in providing savings, investment and liquidity in any economy. The topics listed are valuation of fixed income securities and common stocks; risk analysis, the Arbitrage Pricing Theory and the Efficient Market Hypothesis; an introduction to corporate finance and capital budgeting; valuation of derivative securities; portfolio theory and the Capital Asset Pricing Model; corporate financial decisions; real options, capital structure, payout policy and corporate bonds; and the interaction between investment and financing decisions. MIT positions the course and programme as preparation for roles such as financial analyst, advisor or chief financial officer.

It is self-paced and can be started at any time, with an estimate of 12 weeks at 10 to 14 hours per week. Auditing is free and includes access to the course and materials; the certificate track costs $549 and adds graded assignments and exams and an MIT certificate on completion, counting toward the MicroMasters credential. The older classroom version, 15.401 Finance Theory I, is free on OpenCourseWare.