Instructional Leadership Post-Master’s Certificate

Description of Program

In order to earn a Post-Master’s Certificate, students must complete six courses (a total of 18 credit hours) within the chosen Post-Master’s Certificate program. With the exception of the General Education certificate, each Post-Master’s Certificate program is prescribed, meaning students can only take what is listed for the particular Post-Master’s Certificate program (students may not substitute alternative courses). Students must complete all six NCU courses with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better in order to receive the certificate.

Basis for Admissions

Admission to the Post-Master’s Certificate program requires a conferred master’s level or higher degree from a regionally or nationally accredited academic institution.

Scope

6 NCU Courses (18 Credit hours) must be completed from the coursework outlined within the corresponding Post-Master’s Certificate specialization. Courses taken as part of a NCU master’s program cannot be applied towards a Post-Master’s Certificate program.

Post-Master’s Certificate Transfer into a Doctoral Sequence

• Specialization coursework completed as part of a doctoral degree, where a degree was conferred, cannot be applied towards a Post-Master’s Certificate program. However, a Post-Master’s Certificate can be completed as part of doctoral coursework, assuming the student officially applies for the Post-Master’s Certificate prior to completing the fourth course in the Post-Master’s Certificate series.
• Coursework completed within a Post-Master’s Certificate program may be applied towards the specialization sequence within a doctoral program.
• Applying Post-Master’s Certificate coursework towards a doctoral degree is contingent upon coursework and degree relevance under the most current doctoral degree program version.

Time to Completion

Normal time to completion for this program is 16 months.

Time to completion varies depending upon the pace in which a student completes courses and the number of transfer credits accepted. As most NCU students are working adults balancing educational, professional, and personal commitments, our academic and finance advisors will work with you to develop a program schedule that works best for your needs.

The normal time disclosed above reflects the experience of students who may have entered under different program requirements. In the quest for continuous improvement, academic leadership has revised the program to optimize curriculum and pace, facilitate student learning, and improve chances for success. Therefore, the program is now designed for students enrolling today to take advantage of these revised course structures, lengths, and schedules. New students following the preferred schedule designed by the Dean for this program, and applying no transfer credits, can expect to finish in as little as 9 months.

NCU allows 2 years to complete all Post-Master’s Certificate.

Students who are unable to complete a degree program within the stated time limits are dismissed. If a student believes they have extenuating circumstances they may document the circumstances and send a request for consideration to their respective School Dean or designee. Exceptions to the policy are determined on a case-by-case basis and are granted only once.

NOTE: If a student wants to enroll in a doctoral program in a school other than the school from which the student obtained the Post-Master’s Certificate, the University does not guarantee that any of the courses will be transferable to a program of another NCU school.

EXAMPLE: Student obtains a Post-Master’s Certificate through the School of Business, but wants to obtain a doctorate through the School of Behavioral and Health Sciences.

In these cases, the School Dean (from the School in which the student wants to obtain the doctorate) will review the Post-Master’s Certificate courses and provide the final determination. The outcome will be documented in the student’s file. The student will be notified by e-mail of the requirements to obtain the doctoral degree.