Certificate Admissions

Admissions Requirements

The following outlines the requirements and prerequisites for admission to our certificate programs.

Graduate Certificate in Applied Data Driven Methods

Applicants to the Applied Data Driven Methods Certificate must submit:

  • Official transcript(s) of prior academic work
  • One letter of recommendation that attests to the applicant’s aptitude and motivation to pursue studies at a level beyond the bachelor’s or master’s degree
  • A Resume

All other graduate certificate programs

Applicants to all other certificate programs must submit:

  • Official transcript
  • Two letters of recommendation that attest to the applicant’s aptitude and motivation to pursue studies at a level beyond the bachelor’s or master’s degree
  • Personal statement
  • Resume
  • Successful completion of at least one three-credit college course with a grade of B or better in each of the following: 
    • Structured programming language. A course on structured programming using Java, C# or C++ is required. CMPINF 0401 - INTERMEDIATE PROGRAMMING is recommended to meet this requirement.
    • Statistics. A course covering data collection, descriptive and inferential statistics is optimal. It should cover measures of central tendency and variability, regression, correlation, non-parametric analysis, probability and sampling, Bayesian analysis, significance tests, and hypothesis testing. Either STAT 0200 - BASIC APPLIED STATISTICS or STAT 1000 - APPLIED STATISTICAL METHODS is recommended to meet this requirement.
    • Mathematics. A college-level mathematics course, in discrete mathematics or calculus, is required. Any of the following Pitt courses are recommended to meet the requirement: MATH 0120 - BUSINESS CALCULUS, MATH 0220 - ANALYTIC GEOMETRY AND CALCULUS 1, or MATH 0400 - FINITE MATHEMATICS.

Deadlines

Application deadlines can be found on our graduate FAQ page.

Program Specific Requirements

Graduate Certificate in Applied Data Driven Methods

To be considered for admissions to this graduate certificate program, students are expected to have obtained a Bachelor’s degree with a B average (a grade point average of 3.00 on a 4.00 scale) or better in the total undergraduate program.

Graduate Certificate in Big Data Analytics

15-Credit Post-Bachelor’s Certificates

A BS/BE degree from an accredited college or university in Computer Science, Information Technology, Telecommunications, Computer or Electrical Engineering, Mathematics or a related field with a scholastic average of a B (3.0 on a 4.0 scale) or better.

15-Credit Post-Master’s Certificates

A MS degree from an accredited college or university in Computer Science, Information Technology, Information Science, Telecommunications, Computer or Electrical Engineering, Mathematics or a related field with a scholastic average of a B (3.0 on a 4.0 scale) or better.

Graduate Certificate in Cybersecurity, Policy, and Law

Students must have at least a BA or BS in Computer Science, Information Science, Engineering, or similar type of degree.

Graduate Certificate in Information and Network Security

15-Credit Post-Bachelor’s Certificates

A BS/BE degree from an accredited college or university in Computer Science, Information Technology, Telecommunications, Computer or Electrical Engineering, Mathematics or a related field with a scholastic average of a B (3.0 on a 4.0 scale) or better.

15-Credit Post-Master’s Certificates

An MS degree from an accredited college or university in Computer Science, Information Technology, Information Science, Telecommunications, Computer or Electrical Engineering, Mathematics or a related field with a scholastic average of a B (3.0 on a 4.0 scale) or better.

Graduate Certificate in Information Science

An MS degree from an accredited college or university in Computer Science, Information Technology, Information Science, Telecommunications, Computer or Electrical Engineering, Mathematics or a related field with a scholastic average of a B (3.0 on a 4.0 scale) or better.

Graduate Certificate in Telecommunications

An MS degree from an accredited college or university in Computer Science, Information Technology, Information Science, Telecommunications, Computer or Electrical Engineering, Mathematics or a related field with a scholastic average of a B (3.0 on a 4.0 scale) or better