Graduate Certificates 

Graduate Certificates offer students the opportunity to choose from a select group of courses focused on developing the knowledge, skills, and abilities that can be put to practical and professional use. 

Twelve (12) credit hours minimum required. 

Students must earn a passing grade in the course for credit to count toward the certificate. A passing grade is a minimum grade of “C” on all courses in the graduate certificate taken at Baylor. The Graduate School’s course repeat policy applies to certificates. Some departments may require a higher overall GPA for the certificate. Please check with your academic program on the minimum grade requirements needed for your certificate.

Students who wish to apply certificate course credit toward a degree at Baylor should be aware of the minimum 3.0 GPA admission requirements in the Graduate Catalog. 

Graduate Certificates may be offered outside of a degree, are open to students of any major, and are designed to strategically incorporate academic courses of study with co-curricular experiences during the student’s graduate career. 

Graduate Certificates may be offered as part of the degree, often called an embedded certificate. Graduate Certificates may also be offered outside of a degree program to be used for upskilling, often called a standalone certificate. Please check with your academic program to determine the certificate type.  

Students may transfer up to three credit hours from another university to apply towards their certificate. 

 Stand-alone graduate certificate programs require additional approval from the U.S. Department of Education before Baylor can offer federal financial aid. Due to these added requirements and the associated approval process, not all stand-alone certificate programs are eligible for federal aid, and some students may need to seek alternative funding options. To learn more about which stand-alone certificate programs are approved for federal loans, we encourage you to contact Baylor’s OneStop for Student Financial Services.