Graduate Certificates:
- Any individual who has completed a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university is eligible to enroll in a SPA graduate certificate program.
- SPA offers a variety of graduate certificates to help you advance your career.
- The majority of students pursuing a graduate certificate have earned a graduate degree in another field and pursue a certificate to gain expertise in a specific policy or management area within public affairs.
- SPA graduate certificates follow the curriculum of our concentration areas or, if they are seeking a Certified Public Manager designation, the requirements for the CPM program.
SPA Graduate Certificates on the Downtown Denver Campus
Requirements & Application:
- Graduate certificates on the Denver campus require five courses (15 credit hours).
- To apply, fill out the UCD non-degree application and submit it with an application fee ($50) and a copy of your undergraduate transcript.
- Please send application documents to Dawn Savage (if your last name begins with A – K) or Antoinette Sandoval (if you last name begins with L – Z).
- The UC Denver address is: Campus Box 142, PO Box 173364 Denver, CO 80217.
- If you decide to use credits from a graduate certificate toward a MPA or MCJ degree at UCD, you must be accepted as a degree-seeking student before completing more than nine credit hours.
SPA also offers a national certification program for public managers that consists of 12 modules conducted via weekend seminars or through an online format.
Concentration Areas:
- Both the Master of Public Administration and Master of Criminal Justice programs offer students the opportunity to select a concentration area within the degree.
- Five courses (15 credits) are usually required to complete a concentration and concentration courses are used to satisfy the electives requirement of the SPA master’s degree.
- Students may select a concentration area on their UCD graduate application or may select a concentration after enrolling in courses at the SPA.
- Approximately half of our graduate students select and complete a specific concentration, while the remaining students will choose electives from a variety of concentration areas to best meet their professional goals.
- Students interested in pursuing a concentration area should meet with their faculty advisor to seek approval for their elective courses and receive advice on other concentration requirements.
SPA Concentration Areas on the Downtown Denver Campus
The SPA is a partner in the Center for Sustainable Infrastructure Systems (CSIS) and offers a multi-disciplinary, four course certificate in Sustainable Urban Infrastructure.
SPA Graduate Certificates on the Colorado Springs Campus
Certificates:
Requirements & Application:
- Graduate certificates on the Colorado Springs campus require four courses (12 credit hours)
- Students who complete a certificate and later enter the MPA or MCJ program may count all credits toward the respective degree
- To apply, non-SPA students can submit an unclassified application and the $25 fee to the office of admissions. Nondegree student applications are available online or from the UCCS admissions office.
- In addition, students must also submit the certificate application form (http://www.uccs.edu/~spa/current/programs/certapp.pdf), official transcripts, and one letter of recommendation to the UCCS School of Public Affairs, 1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway, Colorado Springs, CO 80918