Those who wish to seek the certificate need to be admitted to a graduate degree program (https://ess.graduateschool.vt.edu/pages/login.php), or admitted as a non-degree seeking or a Commonwealth Campus student (https://applyto.graduateschool.vt.edu/apply/). In addition to the appropriate admission application, students must complete the Application for a Graduate Certificate. The Graduate School requires a GPA of 3.0 for admission to Certificate Status and official transcripts must be submitted.
Students already enrolled in a graduate degree program at Virginia Tech should submit the Application for a Graduate Certificate. Note that students pursuing a degree and a certificate simultaneously are classified in their degree program. Six of the credits used toward a certificate may be used in meeting degree requirements if they are appropriate for inclusion on the Plan of Study for the degree.
Enrollment may be limited based on class size. Certificates will be awarded upon the student’s application for the certificate once they have successfully completed the course requirements and submitted the Application for Conferral of Degree or Certificate form.
The certificate requires successful completion of a total of 12 credit hours, of which 6 credits are required courses and 6 credits are elective. Students need to receive a grade of B or better in each course to receive the certificate. Students receiving a grade below a B will have to re-take the course before credit will be awarded. All courses are 3 credit hours and are offered annually or every other year, depending upon availability of the faculty.
All students must complete:
EDHE 6064 – Higher Education in the United States
EDHE 6274 – Higher Education Law
In addition, students are encouraged to complete one of the following three tracks or propose two courses to create their own track. (For more information about these tracks, please contact the certificate program leader, Claire Robbins.)
Student Development and Learning Track
EDHE 5314 – Theories of Student Development (offered each fall)
EDHE 5334 – The College Student and the College Environment (offered each spring)
Governance and Policy Track
EDHE 6084 – Financial Administration in Higher Education (historically offered every other spring; most recently offered spring 2022)
EDHE 6044 – Governance and Policy in Education (historically offered every other spring; next offered spring 2023)
Organizations and Management Track
EDHE 6304 – Theories of Educational Organizations (historically offered every other fall; next offered fall 2023)
EDHE 6094 – University Leadership (historically offered every other fall; most recently offered fall 2022)
Eligibility
Those enrolled as graduate degree-seeking or Commonwealth Campus (non-degree-seeking) students are eligible to receive a Certificate in Higher Education Administration.
For more information, please contact Dr. Claire Robbins at robbinsc@vt.edu.
To access Virginia Tech's Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action statement, please visit this page.
