Certificate Administration

Administration

The University of Colorado Boulder offers official certificate programs for degree-seeking and nondegree students. Certificates offer students the opportunity to pursue certain professional skills, customize their degree or explore different educational interests.

If your department wishes to offer a certificate that will post to a student's official record and transcript (i.e., an official certificate), the department must ensure that the certificate requirements meet established criteria.

To propose a new certificate, follow the steps under propose a new program, plan or certificate.

Certificate coordinators can run the following Cognos report to view how many students are active, discontinued or completed in their certificate program:

CU Reporting > CUBLD > Records and Registration > General Student Records Data Reports > Certificate Status Report

This report allows certificate coordinators to select multiple or individual certificate programs and includes information about whether the student has completed a degree program in the same career, is enrolled in the current or a future term, etc.

The milestone status column displays Completed once the Office of the Registrar has received notification from the certificate coordinator that the student has completed their certificate. When a student finishes their degree and they have a completed milestone, the Office of the Registrar will award the certificate for the semester in which the student graduated from their degree program.

If you don't have Cognos access and would like to run this report, follow the instructions on the CU-SIS Access page to request access.

When completing the CU-SIS Access Request Form:

  • In the System Access Requested list, select Cognos.
  • In the Required Job Duties field, indicate that you're a certificate coordinator who needs access to the following report (include title and navigation): Certificate Status Report (CU Reporting > CUBLD > Records and Registration > General Student Records Data Reports > Certificate Status Report).

Program Changes

Students must obtain approval from the host department before pursuing a certificate program. Departments must complete the student certificate declaration and change form to notify the Office of the Registrar when a student wishes to declare or discontinue a certificate program, or has completed the program requirements.

Departments should use the "Declare" action on the student certificate declaration and change form to notify the Office of the Registrar when it has approved a student to pursue a certificate. Please allow three to five business days for processing.

Students will receive an automated email confirming their enrollment once the certificate is added to their record.

Note: The Office of the Registrar only adds certificates to degree-seeking students' records. If the department indicates that the student is nondegree on the student certificate declaration and change form, the request will be routed to the Division of Continuing Education.

Once a student completes the requirements for a certificate, departments must notify the Office of the Registrar using the "Complete" action on the student certificate declaration and change form. In the "Term Student Completed All Certificate Requirements In" field, please indicate the term in which the student completed all certificate requirements. For degree-seeking students, this can be any term up to and including the student's expected graduation term.

Completion notices may be submitted after census for any given completion term.

Departments should submit the form as soon as the student completes the requirements for the certificate; however, due to federal financial aid regulations, certificates cannot be posted to transcripts for degree-seeking students until after their degrees have posted to their transcripts (see the "Posting & Conferral" section below). 

Completion notices are due for graduating students by the degree posting date for the term (see the certificate calendar in the sidebar).

Note: Nondegree students may have certificates posted to their records at the close of the term in which the certificate requirements were completed. The student certificate declaration and change form must be completed by the department to inform Continuing Education of any nondegree students completing certificate requirements.

If a student no longer wishes to pursue a certificate, departments should notify the Office of the Registrar using the "Discontinue" option on the student certificate declaration and change form. Please allow three to five business days for processing.

Posting & Conferral

Only certificate programs approved by the host department will post to the student's official transcript. Any requests to post unofficial, unapproved certificates will be reported to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education or the Graduate School Dean.

Certificates are posted to eligible students' transcripts approximately one week after degrees post in a given term (see the certificate calendar in the sidebar).

Students whose certificates post on or after Fall 2017 are also issued an official certificate document.

Once the Office of the Registrar awards the certificate, the credential appears on the student's transcript in one of two places, depending on when the student completed the requirements.

  • Fall 2013 or later: The certificate appears in the top block of the transcript (like a degree).
  • Before Fall 2013: The certificate appears as transcript text within the term in which the student completed it.

In Campus Solutions, only students who completed their certificate on or after Fall 2013 have a corresponding program/plan stack.

Resources

Certificate Calendar

The following dates apply to students who are graduating from a degree program in the given term.

Spring 2025

  • Degrees post 6/6/2025, after 5 p.m.
  • Completion notifications due 6/6/2025
  • Certificates post 6/13/2025, after 5 p.m.
  • Incomplete certificates discontinued starting 6/27/2025

Summer 2025

  • Degrees post 9/12/2025, after 5 p.m.
  • Completion notifications due 9/12/2025
  • Certificates post 9/19/2025, after 5 p.m.
  • Incomplete certificates discontinued starting 10/3

Fall 2025

  • Degrees post 1/9/2026, after 5 p.m.
  • Completion notifications due 1/9/2026
  • Certificates post 1/16/2026, after 5 p.m.
  • Incomplete certificates discontinued starting TBA