Credit & Lending Operations Track

Track Overview

This free, self-directed track teaches the operational mechanics of modern lending systems across financial institutions. Students learn how credit is structured, underwritten, approved, documented, serviced, monitored, and recovered across consumer, business, commercial, corporate, and real estate lending environments.

The through-line is simple: lending is the disciplined allocation of capital under uncertainty. Financial institutions earn returns by extending credit, but they must continuously measure borrower quality, structure risk, monitor performance, and manage loss exposure.

Students gain practical literacy in lending products, credit policy, underwriting systems, documentation workflows, servicing infrastructure, portfolio surveillance, restructuring, syndication, and secondary loan markets.

Track Units

• Layer 1: Credit Foundations

  How lending works as a financial system.

• Unit 1: Financial Foundations for Credit

  Interest, amortization, cash flow, leverage, default risk, and time value of money.

• Unit 2: Structure of the Lending System

  Banks, credit unions, finance companies, private lenders, institutional credit markets, and nonbank lenders.

• Unit 3: Credit Markets and Borrower Types

  Consumer borrowers, small businesses, commercial borrowers, corporate issuers, and real estate borrowers.

• Unit 4: Risk and Return in Lending

  Pricing for risk, expected loss, yield, default probability, recovery rates, and portfolio economics.

• Layer 2: Lending Products

  What kinds of credit institutions actually extend.

• Unit 5: Consumer Credit Products

  Credit cards, personal loans, auto loans, installment lending, and revolving consumer credit.

• Unit 6: Small Business Lending

  Working capital loans, lines of credit, equipment financing, SBA-style lending, and owner-dependent businesses.

• Unit 7: Commercial Lending

  Middle-market borrowing, working capital facilities, equipment loans, asset-based credit, and commercial borrower structures.

• Unit 8: Corporate Lending and Syndicated Credit

  Large corporate facilities, revolving credit agreements, term loans, syndicated structures, arranger roles, and institutional lending groups.

• Unit 9: Real Estate Lending Systems

  Residential mortgages, multifamily loans, commercial real estate lending, construction loans, and collateralized property credit.

• Layer 3: Credit Analysis

  How lenders evaluate borrower quality and repayment risk.

• Unit 10: Credit Policy and Lending Standards

  Underwriting policy, approval criteria, risk appetite, exposure limits, exceptions, and institutional lending discipline.

• Unit 11: Credit Scoring Systems

  Consumer credit scores, scorecards, rating inputs, behavioral scoring, and automated decision models.

• Unit 12: Financial Statement Analysis

  Income statements, balance sheets, cash flow analysis, debt capacity, and repayment strength.

• Unit 13: Collateral Valuation

  Asset-backed lending, collateral value, advance rates, liquidation analysis, appraisal concepts, and secured credit support.

• Unit 14: Collateral Structuring and Lien Perfection

  Security agreements, lien priority, UCC filings, perfection methods, collateral packages, and enforceability of secured claims.

• Unit 15: Credit Risk Rating Systems

  Internal risk grades, borrower classifications, probability of default, loss severity, and watchlist frameworks.

• Layer 4: Loan Execution

  How credit moves from application to funded loan.

• Unit 16: Loan Origination Systems

  Application intake, pipeline management, borrower data collection, workflow systems, and origination platforms.

• Unit 17: Underwriting Workflows

  Borrower review, financial analysis, credit memos, exception handling, and structured underwriting processes.

• Unit 18: Credit Approval Committees

  Approval authorities, committee structure, escalation thresholds, policy governance, and credit decision control.

• Unit 19: Loan Documentation

  Loan agreements, promissory notes, guarantees, covenants, collateral documentation, and conditions required before closing.

• Unit 20: Loan Closing and Funding

  Closing checklists, final approvals, funding authorization, disbursement controls, and post-close file completion.

• Layer 5: Loan Management

  How lenders manage credit after origination.

• Unit 21: Loan Servicing Systems

  Payment processing, amortization schedules, billing systems, servicing transfers, and day-to-day account administration.

• Unit 22: Escrow and Payment Administration

  Escrow balances, tax and insurance disbursements, payment application rules, suspense accounts, and servicing controls.

• Unit 23: Covenant Monitoring

  Financial covenants, reporting requirements, compliance testing, borrower communication, and exception management.

• Unit 24: Credit Review and Portfolio Surveillance

  Periodic credit reviews, borrower reassessment, file testing, problem credit identification, and portfolio-level surveillance routines.

• Unit 25: Portfolio Risk Monitoring

  Risk migration, concentration exposure, delinquency trends, borrower performance, and management of aggregate credit exposure.

• Unit 26: Loan Reporting and Analytics

  Credit dashboards, vintage analysis, loss trends, portfolio segmentation, and management reporting.

• Layer 6: Distressed Credit & Secondary Markets

  How lenders manage underperformance, transfer risk, and recover capital.

• Unit 27: Delinquency Management

  Past-due tracking, borrower outreach, hardship evaluation, payment resolution, and early-stage default control.

• Unit 28: Restructuring and Special Servicing

  Loan modifications, extensions, transfers to special servicing, workout negotiations, covenant resets, and problem asset management.

• Unit 29: Collections and Recovery

  Recovery processes, repossession, foreclosure pathways, liquidation strategy, charge-offs, and recovery operations.

• Unit 30: Loan Syndication

  Lead arrangers, participant lenders, syndication structures, agent bank functions, distribution strategy, and shared credit administration.

• Unit 31: Secondary Loan Markets

  Loan sales, assignment structures, participation transfers, nonperforming asset trades, and institutional secondary credit markets.