Religious Studies
Graduate Certificates
Our certificate programs strengthen your professional formation with 12 credits of coursework in a particular area of concentration. Certificates may be pursued as an integral part of the Master of Arts degree program, as a free-standing program for non-degree seeking students or a supplement to a completed Master of Arts degree. You may earn a certificate in residence or remotely. Certificates are offered in the following areas:
Consisting of 15 semester hours, this certificate offers a breadth of theology to help the minister in various campus ministry situations.
This certificate provides education and training in ministry skills, and addresses specific ministry issues Catholic campus ministers may encounter.
This 12-hour graduate certificate equips students to minister as, with and to people with disabilities. Two required courses in scripture and theology, focused on disability, provide foundational theological courses. Students tailor their certificate programs with an additional six elective credits. Some of the elective offerings include praxis courses taught by instructors with years of experience in disability and ministry.
This 12-hour certificate is a graduate-level introduction to Marian studies. Students tailor their own program with a selection of four three-credit courses from topics that include “Mary in Sacred Scripture and Early Church Tradition,” “Mary in Liturgy” and “Ministry in a Marian and Marianist Spirit.” Students have access to the world class Marian library, a rare collection of books, periodicals, articles, prints and religious artifacts related to Mary.
A certificate in Pastoral Care is available for those seeking or with an earned Master's Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.
The 12-hour multidisciplinary Sustainability Certificate was established in recognition that complex societal sustainability issues require integration of knowledge and wisdom from all disciplines. Sustainability related jobs are rapidly increasing in every field. The certificate requires two three-credit core courses (SSP 500: Foundations in Sustainability and SSP 580: Applied Sustainability) and six-credits of electives that can be taken in REL.