Doctoral-Level Certificates

Andrews University
https://bulletin.andrews.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=22&poid=17831&returnto=5311
https://bulletin.andrews.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=22&poid=18124&returnto=5311

Nebraska Methodist College
https://www.methodistcollege.edu/find-your-program?degree=certificate___post_doctoral

 

Columbia Southern University
Their "Postgraduate" certificates are doctoral-level (whereas their "Graduate" certificates are master's-level)
https://www.columbiasouthern.edu/online-degree/certificates

 

Northwestern State University of Louisiana
Their Post Graduate Certificate in Global Security and Intelligence is made up of 6000-level courses, whereas their related master's are made up of 5000-level courses. However, they do not currently offer a doctorate in this subject area.
https://www.nsula.edu/ssap/homeland-security/

 

The University of Michigan-Flint offers Post-Master's Certificates in subfields of business (online). They require a master's degree for admission, but are each made up of 500-level courses.

 

Hmmm. I think 500 is used for post-baccalaureate and the lowest graduate-level courses.

https://rackham.umich.edu/faculty-and-staff/resources-for-directors/guidelines-for-graduate-course-approval/course-numbering/

https://bulletin.engin.umich.edu/courses/course-info/

 

Westcliff University
https://www.westcliff.edu/academics/college-of-business/
Doctoral Certificates are available online and can be stacked toward a DBA or evidently taken on their own. The Doctoral Certificate in Business Administration is made up of 700-level courses, whereas the other four Doctoral Certificates are made up of 800-level courses. Business and IT subjects, including a Doctoral Certificate in Applied Computer Science.

 

Certificates that can be stacked is another way of saying they re-purposed existing courses into certificate programs.

It reminds me of Carpet Fresh. That was a product back in the '70s for people with shag carpets. The underlying concept was that you had a shag carpet and visitors to your home could smell odors trapped in the napping. It was an absurd and exploitive assault on people's insecurities. But it created a market that did not exist. But the relevant part was that Arm and Hammer, maker of baking soda people re-purposed into an odor fighter in their refrigerators, came out with a baking soda-based competitor to Carpet Fresh. The irony? It was just baking soda. I watched a consumer reporter, David Horowitz on Channel 4 in L.A., bake a cake with it and serve it to his audience. This re-purposed (and re-packaged) baking soda sold for 3 times what the regular baking soda went for. It was a sham.

Direct comparison? No, but I love telling that story.

 

City University of Seattle
https://www.cityu.edu/programs-overview/postgraduate-certificate-business-strategy-technology-change/
https://www.cityu.edu/programs-overview/postgraduate-certificate-leadership-diversity-and-innovation/

 

Brown University has many Doctorate Certificates, including Data Science and Humanities (i.e.: Africana Studies).
https://graduateschool.brown.edu/phd-experience/collaborative-research/doctoral-certificates

 

I'm fine with it, especially if it is designed purposely. However, sometimes schools offer certificates containing re-purposed material from other courses, often without carefully considering the needs of the learner.

A university in Virginia did this in my profession. (I'll not name the school.) They created an 18-credit certificate purportedly preparing people in my profession to rise to the top. But upon closer inspection, it was a grab-bag of graduate courses from other, existing programs. The material was NOT developed with the outcome in mind. Ugh.

 

Grand Canyon University
These "Advanced Graduate Certificates" are from the College of Doctoral Studies using doctoral-level courses.
https://www.gcu.edu/degree-programs/graduate-certificate-innovation-corporate-entrepreneurship
https://www.gcu.edu/degree-programs/graduate-certificate-leadership
https://www.gcu.edu/degree-programs/graduate-certificate-performance-psychology

 

American College of Education
https://catalog.ace.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=74&poid=7517

 

American Military University (AMU/APUS) has something in that direction. Many of their graduate certificates are 18-credits and come right from the equivalent master's degrees. If you earn the cert, you are automatically half way to the associated master's and can transfer your credits in. This doesn't apply 100% of the time, since there are certificates that don't map neatly onto every degree program but it's an interesting effort.