Certificate Definition[1]
A certificate is defined as a non-degree program complementary to a degree that requires at least 24 undergraduate or 12 graduate credits. For each undergraduate certificate, at least 15 credits used to fulfill its requirements cannot be used to fulfill the requirements of a major, concentration, minor or another undergraduate certificate. Credits from a maximum of one graduate certificate may also apply to a master’s or doctoral degree program.
The name of a completed certificate program appears on the transcript after the conferral of an undergraduate degree. Certificates are approved by the school or college at the undergraduate level and by the Graduate Council at the graduate level.
The Commission on Colleges and Universities identifies certificates as educational programs in the requirement for assessment of institutional effectiveness (Principle 8.2.a).[2]
Certificate Assessment
All certificate programs will participate in assessment of student learning outcomes. Most certificates will be included as part of an external accreditation or Academic Program Review (APR) self-study, while other stand-alone programs will report independently. The assessment approach for each certificate is listed in the APR Reporting Schedule.
Each process is described below:
Certificates within an Externally Accredited Program
If at least 50% of courses within a certificate overlap with the core of an externally accredited degree program and the certificate’s SLOs are included within the external accreditation, these certificates are exempt from additional assessment.Certificates included in APR
If at least 50% of courses within a certificate overlap with the core of a degree program that participates in APR, the certificate will be assessed in the APR process. Reporting within the APR self-study should include the following for each certificate:- Description and purpose of the certificate
- Enrollment and completion rates
- List of all Student Learning Outcomes
- Assessment of at least two Student Learning Outcomes
Stand-Alone Certificates
A certificate is considered “stand-alone” if less than 50% of its courses are included in the core of another degree program. Stand-alone certificates are required to make a full assessment report every 5 years in Nuventive, George Mason’s assessment management system.
The assessment report should include:
- Description and purpose of the certificate
- Discussion of certificate enrollment and completion in the last 5 years
- All Student Learning Outcomes for the program
- Assessment of at least 2 Student Learning Outcomes
Though assessment reports are only required once every 5 years, it is recommended that programs plan for periodic assessment by maintaining files of student work samples from each semester.
Certificates were last assessed in 2025 and will next be assessed in 2030.
The following guidance was utilized in the 2025 Certificate Assessment process:
[1] George Mason University Catalog, Academic Policies, AP.4 Degree Application, Conferral and Graduation, http://catalog.gmu.edu/policies/academic/degree-application-conferral-graduation/
[2] 2018 edition of the Principles of Accreditation: Foundations for Quality Enhancement, 2018, https://sacscoc.org/app/uploads/2019/08/2018PrinciplesOfAcreditation.pdf (p. 70)