Requirements & Plan of Study: Graduate Certificates

Turning in Your Plan of Study Form

A Plan of Study form for a graduate certificate must be submitted to the Graduate School at least one term before the conferral of the certificate. Graduate School staff will update the Plan of Study form with grades from the student's last term if necessary. The original Course of Study for Graduate Certificate form will become part of the student's official academic record in the Graduate School.

• Up to 12 hours of graduate credit earned for graduate certificates may be applied to degree requirements for a graduate degree upon approval of the degree program.
• For stand-alone graduate certificate programs, a maximum of three graduate credit hours which correspond directly to the MU graduate certificate program course requirements may be used as transfer credit from another university to satisfy the requirements for the certificate program. An original transcript from the other university, verifying graduate credit received for the requested hours of transfer credit, must be submitted to the Graduate School when the Plan of Study form is submitted.

Successful Completion of a Graduate Certificate

Students will be awarded their graduate certificates upon successful completion of a well-defined program of course work.

• For students whose graduate certificate program is part of a graduate degree program, certificates will be awarded upon successful completion of the degree program.
• For students participating in a stand-alone certificate program, certificates will be awarded at the end of the term in which all the certificate program requirements have been successfully completed.

Graduate certificates may be transcripted, but do not appear on diplomas

Minimum Requirements for Earning a Graduate Certificate

In order to be awarded a graduate certificate, a graduate student must have a grade point average of 3.0 on all course work that applies to the certificate program. The same grading policies and fees apply to all graduate students participating in graduate certificate programs, whether they are degree-seeking or post-baccalaureate graduate students.

Special Circumstances for Obtaining Credit

No courses taken as a "hearer" (audit status) may be applied to a graduate certificate program.

A grade of "Incomplete" can be assigned in rare instances when a student cannot complete course work due to illness or other special circumstances beyond the student's control. To obtain credit for the course, the incomplete grade must be converted to a grade within one year.