Certificates Emergence as a New Market in Higher EducationI am fortunate to have been able to chronicle this amazing growth. In the first study I conducted on certificate programs, I was able to identify about forty universities that had certificate programs at the graduate level. In my current study, only four years later, I have well over four hundred universities so identified. It is also interesting that graduate or postbaccalaureate certificate programs are being conducted in virtually every discipline, with many in business, education, health sciences or information science. But there are also significant numbers of certificate programs in the humanities or the arts. Certificate programs play an important role for the graduate student in permitting a "modular" path to graduate study that may seem less intimidating to the entering student. There is also some information now that indicates that the opportunity to enroll in a certificate program before continuing on to a graduate degree makes graduate education more accessible to older students who have been away from higher education, or students from traditionally underrepresented groups in graduate school. Although much research continues to be needed on the importance of this relatively new class of graduate programs, it seems clear that certificate programs fulfill an important need, whether it is to provide needed opportunities in one's professional development, or whether it is to provide the path towards a desired graduate degree.
Wayne Patterson |