General Requirements for Certificate Programs

A graduate certificate program ranges from 12 to 21 credit hours.  As there is no “general” certificate program in education, requirements vary between programs. Students must go through the standard process for admission for a certificate and be admitted before the semester starts. Certificates that share coursework with higher degrees must be awarded before or at the same time as the higher degree.

Faculty Advisor

An advisor from the major program area must be selected by the student or assigned by the department. Students should check with the department office for information about the assignment of faculty advisors.

Electronic Plan of Studies (e-POS)

For the certificate program there is a program outline form used for planning the specific courses included in a student’s electronic Plan of Studies (e-POS).  It must be developed with a faculty advisor, then be approved by the Department Chair and the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies. An electronic Plan of Studies (e-POS) must be submitted before all coursework for the certificate is completed. If any courses listed on the electronic Plan of Studies (e-POS) were not taken at Indiana University, a Request for Transfer of Graduate Credit must be submitted concurrently. The electronic Plan of Studies (e-POS) can be found on the Graduate Student Portal.

Transfer Courses

Up to 6 credit hours of graduate coursework completed at other universities may be transferred into certificate programs. All coursework transferred must be from an accredited college or university. No transfer credit will be given for a course with a grade lower than B. Courses graded P (Pass) may not ordinarily be transferred into education graduate programs. Courses graded S (Satisfactory) may be transferred only if a letter is received from the course instructor stating that the student's performance in the course was at or above a grade of B.

All transferred courses must be relevant to the student's Plan of Studies. They must be approved by a program advisor and by the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies. An official transcript showing the courses to be transferred and the grades awarded for them is required for coursework to be transferred. A course description or syllabus may be required in order to judge the appropriateness of coursework to be transferred.

Certificate students must complete a minimum of 6 - 15 credit hours of coursework at Indiana University. Beyond this, graduate coursework may be transferred from other universities. At least half of the hours must be taken on the campus awarding the certificate. 

Course Revalidation

Revalidation is a process whereby a student demonstrates current knowledge of course material that was not taken recently. For all graduate certificate programs, coursework over seven years old must be revalidated. For certificate programs, the seven years is counted back from the date of certificate conferral.

Several methods of revalidating old courses are available:

• Passing an examination specifically covering the material
• Passing a more advanced course in the same area, taken
• Passing an examination specifically covering the course material
• Teaching a comparable course – Attached CV required.
• Scholarly publication which demonstrates knowledge of course content – Attached CV required
• Professional experience in which course content was required, applied, or demonstrated Attached CV required

Forms for course revalidation are available on the School of Education Graduate Student Portal.  Courses must be revalidated individually (only one course per form).   

The revalidation evidence for each course must be assessed by an Indiana University faculty member who teaches the course being revalidated. The revalidating faculty member must be personally convinced, based upon present evidence, that the student demonstrates current mastery of basic course concepts and principles.

Graduation

Certificate Conferral

Certificate conferral occurs monthly. An online Application for Graduation form must be submitted to the Graduate Studies Office at least one month prior to the degree conferral date. The Graduate Studies Office will send out an e-mail and post these specific dates each semester. 

Failure to apply for graduation by the deadline may result in the certificate being denied for that graduation period. The application may be filed for the subsequent period, but students should note that this may create issues with the seven-year deadline for completing coursework or for visa status, depending on individual circumstances. The online application to graduate can be found on the Graduate Student Portal.