About Academic Certificate Policies
Academic Certificates are comprised of academic courses and/or coordinated studies programs that are offered as part of the regular curriculum. As such, all institutional academic, tuition, student conduct, transfer and award of credit policies apply. Registration in courses or programs that are part of an Academic Certificate are open to all matriculated and non-matriculated students, not only those enrolled in the Certificate.
Academic Certificate Enrollment and Registration
Students who wish to earn a certificate must enroll in the certificate and meet any prerequisite requirements set by the certificate faculty. The prerequisites for enrollment vary by certificate.
Students may register for academic offerings that are a component of a certificate without enrolling in the certificate. After registering for the first offering, students enrolled in a certificate with a set sequence of offerings have priority registration for associated academic offerings over students not enrolled in the certificate. Students must be enrolled in the certificate and registered in the first course of the certificate sequence or a core course to have priority registration for subsequent certificate offerings.
Students enrolled in a certificate program are expected to complete the requirements of the certificate as designed in sequence in a single academic year. Students may opt to delay completing all requirements for a certificate program for one year, provided the certificate program continues to be offered. Students delaying more than a year without completing the certificate will no longer be enrolled in the certificate. Students wishing to pursue the certificate again must re-enroll and pay an additional certificate enrollment fee.
Students must be enrolled in the certificate program to earn a certificate credential. Students are encouraged to enroll in the certificate prior to their first certificate class. However, students are allowed to enroll any time up until the 2nd Friday of the quarter of their final certificate course. In exceptional circumstances a student may appeal to the dean for late certificate registration.
Academic Certificate Tuition and Fees
Students enrolling in a certificate program are required to pay an enrollment fee. The enrollment fee is reduced by 50% for students currently seeking an Evergreen degree. The fee covers enrollment and delivery of the certificate credential upon completion. It does not cover tuition and other fees associated with registration in the academic offerings required for the certificate.
Academic certificate offerings will normally be provided as state-supported, with tuition charged according to the regular tuition table. However, academic certificate offerings may also be provided as components of a self-sustaining unit such as Summer School, for which the tuition may vary.
Visit the Professional and Continuing Education Cost and Aid page for current rates.
Academic Certificate Credit
Students must earn full credit in each required component of the certificate to earn the certificate. Credit earned in an academic certificate is degree applicable.
Academic Certificate Student Records
Degree applicable credits for components of an academic certificate will be recorded in the regular student academic record and transcript along with other degree credit and will include a narrative evaluation and credit equivalencies. Once all the requirements for a certificate have been met, including earning full credit in all the certificate offerings, the certificate will be awarded. Completion of a certificate will be noted in the certificate student record and transcript.
Waiving of Academic Certificate Requirements
Some certificates may allow equivalent course credits or experience earned elsewhere to be counted toward certificate requirements, waiving the need to earn those credits at Evergreen. Approval for waiving requirements comes from the Academic Dean of Professional and Continuing Education upon recommendation from the Certificate Program faculty. Approved waivers only apply to the Certificate Program that initiated the recommendation and do not apply to degrees.
No more than fifty (50) percent of the credit requirements for a certificate may be waived.