Certificate Conferral

A graduate certificate program (GCP) is defined as a group of three to five 400- and 500-level courses in a concentration within a department or program organized with the objective of training students in a specific area of expertise. Admission to a GCP is limited to students who qualify as non-degree graduate students who hold a bachelor's degree with a GPA of 2.5/4.0 or higher. The GRE is not required. Admission as a certificate student does not guarantee future admission to a graduate degree program.

Course requirements for a GCP are determined by the individual department, and must have a minimum of nine credit hours with at least one course at the 500-level. No more than nine credit hours of 400-level courses can be included; no more than half of the credits or courses may be specialized (topical) accelerated courses. Transfer credit cannot be applied toward a graduate certificate.

The time limit for certificate completion is three years. A student may complete more than one graduate certificate if admitted to each.

A GPA of 3.0/4.0 or greater is required in the certificate courses before a graduate certificate can be awarded. Application for a Graduate Certificate (Form G528) must be filed by certificate students delineating the courses completed for a particular graduate certificate. This form is available from the Office of Academic Affairs and must be approved by that office and by the academic unit head.

The completion of a GCP will be indicated on the student's transcript. A certificate student who subsequently applies to and is admitted to a specific master's degree program may apply all approved coursework taken as a certificate student (in a single certificate program) and passed with a "B" grade or better to the master's degree program.