**Review** Graduate Catalog 2025-2026

Certificate Requirements

A certificate is an academic title granted to a student who has completed a specific course of study. Certificate programs are administered by a college, school and/or coalition of faculty.

The faculty of UNC has established minimum general requirements that a student must meet to earn a Certificate:

  1. Complete the minimum courses outlined in the respective certificate program.
  2. Earn a minimum University of Northern Colorado cumulative grade point average of 3.00 in the certificate program. Certain certificate programs may have additional requirements.

Graduate Certificate Completion

Students who intend to complete a Graduate certificate must fill out the Application for Completion and submit it to: graduate.school@unco.edu. The following guidelines apply for the completion of the certificate:

  • A $50.00 application fee will only be charged one time per certificate and is applied to your student account. If a student plans to complete a Graduate Degree program as well, another $50 fee will be charged to their student account once their second application is accepted. If the student is completing both a Graduate Degree and a Certificate program and apply for graduation and certificate completion in the same semester, the student will only be charged the $50 graduation fee once.
  • UNC confers certificates after the conclusion of the Fall, Spring, and Summer terms once all requirements are completed.
  • All certificates must be declared in the Fall 2014 catalog and forward in order to complete.
  • Any certificate completed in the Fall 2016 catalog and forward will receive an official certificate, certificates cannot be retroactively awarded.
  • The catalog used to determine certificate requirements is the catalog in effect at the time the certificate is declared. If a certificate is being completed in conjunction with a major, it does not have to follow the major catalog year.
  • To change or declare a certificate, work with a program advisor to complete the graduate certificate program form (www.unco.edu/graduate-school/pdf/Program-Change.pdf).