Graduate certificates may be awarded to recognize academic accomplishment in a series of related graduate courses on a topic, theme or area as defined by the appropriate faculty.  These certificates serve as the student's record of coherent academic accomplishment and will be noted on the student's official academic transcript.  They are neither academic degree programs nor professional credentialing programs.

Graduate certificate programs typically consist of 3 to 6 graduate courses (9 to 18 credit hours). Specific requirements and sequences leading to these certificates are described in sections of this Catalog for the respective College or School, as are the specific curricula, courses and requirements of the divisions and departments offering them. 

Types of Certificates
 

There are three general types of graduate-level certificates:

1. Free-standing certificates recognize the successful completion of a focused set of coursework independent of a graduate degree program.
2. Certificates awarded concurrently with an associated master's or doctoral degree, which indicate that a specific and elective sequence of coursework has been followed.  
3. Certificates that recognize the successful completion of additional coursework and which reflect academic accomplishment beyond the normal requirements for a degree.

Admission Requirements

Students seeking graduate certificates must apply to and be accepted for admission into either the specific certificate program or an associated degree program. Students who are admitted into a degree program and who wish to concurrently pursue a graduate certificate should notify the certificate program director in writing before half of the required hours for the certificate are completed.

Transfer Credit

Transfer hours are not acceptable for free-standing certificate programs except in those instances where the certificate program is cross-institutional and the transfer policy is clearly articulated between the governing institutions. Transfer credit may be accepted toward certificates associated with concurrent degree programs in accordance with the transfer policies that govern those degree programs. UD undergraduates may be approved to count graduate courses earned as an undergraduate toward a graduate certificate, in which case such hours will be brought in through an internal transfer.

Overlapping Hours 

Only graduate courses will count towards earning a graduate certificate. A student cannot be awarded a graduate certificate prior to or simultaneously with their undergraduate degree. In the majority of cases, students pursuing a graduate certificate should apply for the Bachelor’s-Plus-Master’s (BPM) program associated with the certificate. BPM status will allow for up to nine (9) graduate credit hours to count toward both their undergraduate degree and the graduate certificate and retain eligibility for those courses to count toward the master's degree if pursued.  For free-standing graduate certificates (i.e., certificates not associated with a master's degree) and BPM-linked certificates, students must complete at least three hours as a graduate student. Students will need to successfully apply for admission either to the certificate or to the master's degree program to complete graduate course requirements associated with the certificate.

Subsequent Degree Programs