Philosophy

Graduate Certificates provide a shortened, condensed and focused course of study for non-degree and graduate students that supplements an existing bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree. The most popular graduate certificate programs are those that lead to licensure or certification, provide needed on-the-job expertise, or are focused on a timely area of discussion in a discipline.

Since graduate certificates are designed to be shortened (9 to 18 hours of student credit hours scheduled), current in terms of content, and not necessarily permanent (they can come and go as the discipline changes), no substitutions of courses or transfer hours are allowed. It is best to design the certificate program with some flexibility from the start (a choice of courses), or to request changes from the Graduate Council, when the curriculum needs to be updated, since student appeals for graduate certificate programs are limited. Requests for multiple petitions for course substitutions are evidence that the curriculum needs to be updated by submitting a request to the Graduate Council Curriculum Committee.

Graduate certificates are often a way to entice potential graduate students into a formal degree program. It is up to the program as to how many of the credits taken from the graduate certificate can apply towards the degree, but the university allows all of them to be applied with the consent of the department. Since so many of the students from a graduate certificate program will ultimately want to continue in a master’s program, the marketing and advising associated with the graduate certificate should be just as seriously considered as the degree programs.

Process for Admission into a Graduate Certificate Program

• All students, including current UCF master’s, specialist, or doctoral students, must complete an application that designates the graduate certificate.
• The student should apply online (http://www.graduate.ucf.edu/gradonlineapp/) as soon as possible, preferably as soon as they begin taking the required courses. Students who do not submit an application and gain admittance to the graduate certificate program will not be processed for graduate certificate completion.
• Students often do not know that they need to be admitted to the program and often do not know that they have to complete a certificate completion form to receive their certificate. If students tell you that they have not received their certificate from the university after finishing all of their courses, this is the most common reason.
• The student must be admitted to graduate certificate status using the same process in place for admission to graduate degree programs. Students who are pursuing a graduate degree program will not have their graduate status changed in the current student database, but this additional certificate program will be entered into PeopleSoft. (If you have questions, please direct them to the College of Graduate Studies Admissions Counselor who serves your college.) This will enable us to obtain an accurate count of the students who are in each graduate certificate program. (The number of students who have been applied, been admitted, enrolled, and completed certificates is part of the annual report produced by the Graduate Council Policy Committee.)

Process for Completing a Graduate Certificate Program

• Students should complete the Graduate Certificate Completion form when registering for the final required course. After program director review and approval signature, the form must be submitted to the graduate office or student support office in the college. Graduate certificate completions will not be processed for students who have not been admitted to the program.
• The College of Graduate Studies has a certification checklist for graduate certificate programs, to make it easier for departments to complete the certification.
• Students often do not know that they need to be admitted to the program and often do not know that they have to complete a certificate completion form to receive their certificate. If students tell you that they have not received their certificate, this is the most common reason.
• Students that never apply to the certificate program, but have completed all course work within the last three years must apply, be admitted and enroll in order to be awarded the certificate.
• The Graduate Certificate Completion Form can be downloaded from Forms & Files on the Graduate Student website. This form should be filled out completely so that all required courses are listed. The program director for the certificate program is responsible for reviewing the courses listed. Please refer to the policies in the most current graduate catalog, which are more stringent than those for degree programs: grades must be “B-”(2.75) or better, the certificate program of study must be 3.0 or higher for certification, no transfer courses can be used, no internship or independent study courses may be used, a course may not apply to more than one certificate program, graduate credit hours taken at UCF at or less than three years previously from a prior baccalaureate, master’s, specialist, or doctoral degree may be applied toward a certificate, with the consent of the program. Course substitutions may not be used; the graduate certificate program is a focused and specific course of study.
• The college office should retain the Graduate Certificate Completion Form(s) until final grades are posted. Final grades must be entered on the form, and college approval signature will indicate that all requirements have been met. The college should contact the program and/or student regarding problems with course work or adherence to policy.
• Final Graduate Certificate Completion Forms must be submitted to the UCF College of Graduate Studies for processing. The UCF College of Graduate Studies will verify completion of requirements and adherence to graduate certificate policies before issuing graduate certificates. The UCF College of Graduate Studies awards the graduate certificate in PeopleSoft and mails the graduate certificate to the address provided by the student.

Process for Reviewing Graduate Certificate Programs

The Graduate Council evaluates the admissions and completions in Graduate Certificate programs every 3 years. For programs without active admissions in the last three years, the Graduate Council will recommend that the program be inactivated – those students enrolled will be allowed to continue but no new students will be admitted and the program will not be identified in the Graduate Application or Graduate Catalog. For programs with modest admissions and completions, the Graduate Council may send a recommendation to the college that the program be monitored and that program admissions and completions will be reviewed in another year.