Risk Management Degrees

Overview

Risk management helps in determining, assessing, and decreasing the liability of risks that exist in any type of organization. The term risk management is commonly used in the capital market, insurance sector, asset management, retail industry, technology, and energy sectors. The risk management professional's role is to analyze, avoid, transfer, and reduce the risks.

The duration of risk management degree varies from one to three years, depending on the college and the curriculum of the program. Certain colleges include risk management as a certification course and the duration is between 15 and 100 hours. The curriculum for any risk management course generally includes insurance law, casualty insurance, personal insurance, alternative risk financing, etc. You may also choose to specialize in a particular field where you wish to work on. This degree course also seeks to concentrate on improving your analytical, decision-making, team work, written, and oral communications skills that is very essential to achieve success in both business and government risk management areas. These courses can be taken online, at a local college, or training school.

Benefits

To achieve success in any business, the business heads depend on an expert risk management team. Therefore, graduates who excel in this field can expect a top position in the industry. Even recession or bad economy does not dull the chances of the risk management professionals. You can expect a starting salary of $40,000 per annum on an average, while with a few years' of experience, your salary is bound to see an upward swing. The job profiles are diverse, and you can expect to be placed as a risk manager or an audit manager in your desired field of industry.

Costs

The cost of pursuing a risk management course depends on the length of the program and the school or college in which you wish to do it from. The average tuition fee ranges from $20,000 to $35,000 for a full time course. For the part time certification course, you can expect a tuition fee in the range of $2,178 and $4,357.

Schools

There are many colleges in the United States of America which offer risk management degrees and certifications. Bradley University and Wisconsin School of Business are some of the colleges which provide full-time degrees. If you are interested in an online course, then Ellis University is one you can consider.

Testing & Preparation

Students who aspire to pursue the risk management degree must have completed a minimum of 24 credits coursework and pre-business courses. They must have a GPA of at least 2.5 in economics, communications and mathematics. The international students are selected for admission based on their academic performance, through the scores of Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). If you wish to take up a part-time certification in risk management, you should have completed 18 units of college preparatory classes and achieved a minimum GPA of 3.0. In addition they must have cleared the SAT and American College Test (ACT) with a high percentage.

Financial Aid

Certain individuals or organizations offer scholarships to students on a predetermined criterion. H. Howell Taylor, Jr. Risk Management Scholarship Fund is a scholarship given to deserving students in this field. The Federal Student Aid and USA Funds are the federal provisions of financial aid and scholarships that students may apply for. The Student Loan Network is another source to procure a wide range of loans for students.