Certificate and Degree Combinations

Stand Alone Certificate

The certificate review process begins when a student submits the online Certificate Completion Application form. Certificates are awarded on the first of each month when processed separately from a degree.

Once a student submits their Certificate Application, the following processes are triggered:

• Academic Audit - An Associate Registrar must review the student record and confirm that all certificate requirements for completion have been met.
• Finance Audit - The APUS Finance Office must confirm that the Student Account has no outstanding balance or monies owed.
• Library Audit - The APUS Librarian must confirm all books or materials reserved from the library have been returned to APUS and there are no outstanding fees.
• Direct Loan Exit Counseling - If a student has used federal student aid to cover any portion of their college costs, they may be required to complete Direct Loan Exit Counseling. Our financial aid office will contact the student by email to provide the link for exit counseling. Exit counseling provides important information students will need as they prepare to repay their federal student loan(s).

For a student to be eligible for the award of their certificate program, they must have:

• Applied for the certificate.
• Fulfilled all course requirements in their program.
• A GPA of 2.0 in an undergraduate program, or 3.0 in a master's level program. If the passing courses do not meet the GPA requirement, students may take excessive courses to bring up their GPA; however, these courses would not be covered by TA, FSA, or VA.
• Completed all program requirements within the published program deadline.
• Fulfilled all course requirements within 150% of courses attempted vs. courses successfully passed.
• No outstanding balances.

Certificate Awarded before Degree

If students are pursuing a certificate in conjunction with a degree program, they may request to have the certificate awarded before the degree conferral. Please note, that a student's certificate courses will be reviewed separately from their program and must meet the minimum 2.0 GPA as an undergraduate student or the minimum 3.0 GPA as a graduate student. If the certificate courses calculated separately do not meet the above GPA minimums, students will need to wait to have their certificate awarded during the degree conferral process. At that time, a student's degree and certificate courses will be evaluated together to determine their overall GPA, and both can be awarded once conferral requirements have been met.

Certificate Awarded with Degree

Students who wish to have the certificate awarded in conjunction with the degree conferral should not apply for the certificate separately.

For combined certificate and degree programs:

• The certificate program review will be completed concurrently with the degree program academic review and will follow the same guidelines for the Program Review Process. A combined cumulative GPA for the certificate and degree courses of 2.0 GPA for undergraduate programs and 3.0 GPA for master's level programs are required for award.
• Only certificate programs that students have officially declared and are listed on the academic plan can be awarded. If the certificate is not showing on the student’s online academic plan in the student portal, students should contact their Academic Advisors immediately.

For more information on combining a certificate with a degree program, students should contact [email protected].