Early Childhood Education Post-Master’s Certificate

Description of Program

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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 courses with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better in order to receive the certificate.

Please be advised that this program is NOT accredited in Kentucky by the Education Professional Standards Board and is NOT recognized for initial, additional, or renewal of certification or salary enhancement (rank change) for P-12 educators in Kentucky. For more information, please visit the Education Professional Standards Board’s website at http://www.epsb.ky.gov/mod/page/view.php?id=12.

Click here for potential career opportunities within the Post-Master’s Certificate.

Basis for Admissions

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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

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6 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 master’s program cannot be applied towards a Post-Master’s Certificate program.

Certificate Requirements

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The University may accept a maximum of 3 semester credit hours from a graduate-level program to a Post-Master’s certificate program. Coursework must have been completed at an accredited college or university within the last seven years with a grade of “B” or better. See the 

  for additional information.

The Post-Master’s Certificate has the following graduation requirements:

• Cumulative Grade Point Average of 3.0 (letter grade of “B”) or higher
• Official documents on file for basis of admission: a conferred master’s level or higher degree from an accredited academic institution
• Official transcripts on file for all transfer credit hours accepted by the University
• All financial obligations must be met before the student will be issued their complimentary diploma

Time to Completion

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The University allows 2 years to complete all certificate programs.

The median time to completion for this program is 13 months.

Time to completion varies depending upon the pace in which a student completes courses and the number of transfer credits accepted. As most 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.

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.

Post-Master’s Certificate Transfer into a Doctoral Sequence

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• 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.