Undergrad Certificates - is there a benefit?

[withrown]

Hi Y'all,

Just got my final grade for my COSC cornerstone class and drumroll ... I passed. Anyway, I won't be able to take the capstone until Fall term 2. I took the Sophia project management course which transfers in as the first project management course (MGT 460) in the series of three courses for the project management certificate. The other two courses will be offered in Fall term 1 and 2 respectively. 

I wanted to know if anyone has done undergrad certificates from the big 3 and has it brought any ROI job-wise? I don't want to spend the money and time if there is no true benefit. 

Thanks Y'all!

[bjcheung77]

Yes and No, maybe so, do you have tuition reimbursement? It depends on the school, the degree you're going for, and the certificate as well. For example, in your case, at COSC, I usually says no to their certificates as it would be expensive (unless the cert is included in the degree plan).

Now, having said that, if you're going for a BSBA General Management degree at COSC and wanted to have a certificate to show you're getting ready/preparing for the PMI, the PM certificate would be worth it. Most people transfer in the max courses towards the Big 3, COSC is no exception.

Each and almost any course that is part of the certificates offered at COSC are rarely transferable from an alternative source for cheap. Are you going to be paying out of pocket for those two courses? If you have tuition reimbursement, I would say it's worth it... if not, that certificate isn't really necessary to prepare you for the PMI cert.

[davewill]

In limited circumstances, I would say. If you had an unrelated degree and got an undergrad certificate in, say accounting, I'm sure you'd have a big leg up for a job in the accounting department over someone who had the same unrelated degree and no certificate. Of course, the person with the accounting degree is going to be in line before both of you.

Also, in some circumstances, you might get as much mileage out of non-degree certs like nanodegrees and the like.

[withrown]

Thanks for the feedback y'all!

This would be paid out of my pocket. Since I don't plan on sitting for the PMI, I'll leave this one be.

[udi]

In my early career, I got a certificate in 3D design. It did help me to get a job, but I got laid off after two years because they wanted to hire someone with a bachelor's degree. They did offer to help me pay for some college classes, but not all. It's a really long story, but in most cases, it doesn't help. Too many educated people are staying in the workforce.

[cookderosa]

I don't think employers understand the difference between an undergrad certificate and a regular non-credit certificate. I don't think they understand the difference between a grad certificate and a non-credit certificate for that matter. You would have to REALLY make a point of it being for college credit, and I'm not sure that it would still stand out. I have a lot of non-credit certificates in various things that have cost money as well as freebies, and they are lumped into 1 section on my resume. I have a "degrees" section, and wouldn't put an undergrad/grad cert there - so for my resume, I'm just not ready to plunk down the cash. I don't think it would make a difference. I could be totally wrong, and if I didn't have a degree, that would probably change my answer. But I'm still in the category of "no" for this one.