Graduate certificates

[april004]

ok so I will have my degree conferred...tomorrow! Yeah! My bf went celebrating with me yesterday. Let's just say I'm a little, well, I wanted to do things lowkey and just chill at home with a bottle of wine. He decided we had to go out and toast in public. Which I did. Alot..of toasting...lol.

Anyways, now that I will be an official college grad tomorrow I was thinking of adding a graduate certificate to my BSL degree. My degree is so general that I need to pad it up a bit . Could I go for my master's? Yes. Do I want to?

No...not right now.

I was thinking a graduate certificate or even an undergrad certificate would be a bit cheaper and a little faster to finish. Anyone out there know of distance learning graduate certificates or even undergrad ones that are low cost? I was thinking health care mgmt or human resource mgmt certificates. Also am interested in perhaps getting a certificate to verify my Spanish speaking ability. I speak it daily at work although I am not a native speaker and haven't formally taken classes. I still would like to add it to my resume. I speak it better than my Phd boyfriend who had to translate Don Quixote @ U of Penn and was able to go to Spain for a semester. I think having a good Spanish cert on my resume would help with employment.

[TMW2010]

The best resource I've seen for these is DegreeInfo

They've got a ton of listings for just about anything you could want, mainly DL courses.

And you'll see a few familiar faces over there too.

[pmc2009]

I have been researching certificate programs extensively over the last few days. I am in the same situation as you, with a BSLS degree from Excelsior, and I feel I would benefit from having a certificate in something to show I have a good concentration of knowledge in one particular area. I don't regret my BSLS at all, I love having a liberal arts degree! But I wanted to be able to drill down more into one subject. I have been looking into certificate programs in marketing and public relations. I am also working on an MBA, but still want that certificate to add to my resume.

Here is all the info I have come up with so far -

Less expensive NA certificates -

Penn Foster has several certificates that are well priced and self paced, the HR one especially is a good deal at $598 for 7 courses.
Penn Foster Career School | Certificate Programs

Ashworth College is more expensive than Penn Foster but still well priced and self-paced, they have both undergrad and grad certs -
Online Career Certificates – Undergraduate & Graduate Certification & Certificate Programs - Ashworth College

RA certificates -

These are more expensive but well worth it considering the reputation of the schools they are from.

University of California some of the extension schools have online certs - $500-$800 per course - certificates are usually 6-7 courses, so they whole cert could cost you close to $5000

Berkeley -
Online Courses — UC Berkeley Extension
Marketing, Accounting, Project Management, Editing, Paralegal studies, and more

UC Davis -
online learning- UC Davis Extension
Business Analysis, sports marketing, paralegal, and more

UC Irvine -
Certificates & Specialized Studies
Tons of certs - check it out

Here is a link to the UC Extension schools page -
University of California - Academic Programs - UC Extension Campus Programs - Information on University of California academic programs in the arts, humanities and sciences, extension classes and professional schools
Some of the other schools besides the 3 I called out above have online courses also, but the 3 above have the most choices

City University of New York - Baruch College -
Tons of courses but not all are online. I have not found a way to show a listing of the online only courses so you have to actually click on each course to see if it is offered online. Certificates cost between $3,000 and $4,000 and individual courses between $500 and $600
Baruch College School of Continuing and Professional Studies | City University of New York

On Gradschools.com you can search a database and get a list of schools that fit your requirements (program type, campus or online etc.)
Graduate Schools & Graduate Degrees Guide. Master Degree, MBA, PhD Degree Search - GradSchools.com

[marianne202]

EC has a health care management certificate program. I'm currently in their BSHS majoring in health care management, but am considering their healthcare informatics certificate when I finish my BSLS. Since you are already set up with them you should be entitled to some discounts, just a thought. Good luck! Please let us know what you find!

[taylor]

I'm considering a Home Land Securities graduate certificate at TESC which is only 4 classes 12 credits and then going into a Masters program. Although, I'm still not sure how most employers view a Graduate Certificate. Good luck finding one that meets your needs.

[norema]

Amberton University has 12 credit graduate certificates. I am in the same boat as you with Excelsiors BSLA and wanting more on my resume'. However I am going for a Masters degree in Professional Development. That degree allows the student to include any graduate course within it. Therefore, I am applying their Human Resource Management and possibly their Adult Training Development graduate certificate within it. I could just go for their Masters in Human Resource Training and Development degree, but I'd rather get a 3 in 1 - a Masters degree and two Graduate Certificates for the price of just the Masters degree. I figure it would look better on the resume' than just the masters degree. They have two courses that are staples in all of their master degree programs. Leaving the ability to have just two certificates that could be applied towards that masters degree. Just in case I decide to teach any human resource class I need 18 credits, so I'm taking a couple extra courses towards that certificate. However, if it's just to bump up your resume' all of their certificates are a great deal. Even though the school officials have let me down on the transfer of graduate credits, I have to give credit where credit is due. So besides their certificates being 12 credits, the best part is that Amberton's tuition is $225 per credit hour.

Amberton University - Certifications

[JanusthePhoenix]

If you think it is worth it to play the name game, Harvard Extension School offers some graduate certs and a LA Masters program with a number of concentrations. I haven't really looked into it very much, but someone mentioned it to me some time ago. Maybe worth a look.

Degrees and Certificates : Harvard Extension School

[bawhitsett]

Another idea may be to look at local community colleges that offer certificate programs that would correspond to local employment needs. The ones in my area for example, which has a fairly large hospitality industry and a major port, offer certs / degrees in a range of related fields such as hospitality management, maritime logistics, etc.