My daughter is getting ready to start college in the fall and is working out her schedules and planning her major, etc. (which I know are highly subject to change). Along with offering majors and minors, this University (state U) offers several certificates. Some seem to make sense as leading directly into a possible job (such as real estate appraiser certificate, or mortgage broker certificate), but others sound more like minors (like behavioral forensics, non-profit management, Anthropology of Global health…) Things that I would think would require further study or more specialization to be useful. With the non-profit management (and a couple others) for example, they also offer that as a minor. will there be a big difference in employability earning a certificate vs getting a minor?
She is trying to work her schedule so that her electives will fulfill the requirements for a minor and perhaps a certificate or two. I just don’t recall ever hearing of earning a college certificate, and wonder how that might be helpful to her in the future. Will it be useful in the job search or possible grad school search?
As an incoming freshman, I don’t think it would be useful for grad school. As for a job search, I have no idea. I’m guessing some employers may look favorably upon it, but I think a minor that is specific in her job interests but still casts a wide-ish net would be better.
Could she pick up another minor instead of those certificates? I’m majoring in computer science, but my school requires 4 semesters of a foreign language for it. In my case, I’ll minor in Chinese. She should do something like that to knock out general requirements, major requirements, and/or minor requirements at the same time.
Probably not a lot of extra value getting any certificate in addition to major with a minor. If your daughter can fit it into schedule without a lot of extra expense or without interfering with other coursework…go for it if your daughter wants to learn a little more with the certificate coursework. Wouldn’t hang around for another semester just for a certificate unless it helps maybe get a needed professional license for a future job.
The certificate in and of itself is probably not going to make a difference. However, if you want to pursue grad school it can (though not necessarily) show that you are serious/passionate/specialized in something. For example, I have a certificate in Bioethics and when I applied to get my Public Health degree, I talked about my experience with my bioethics courses and how they taught me to think in an interdisciplinary way. Also, when I applied for my current research position- which is solidly in a bioethics field- I discussed and highlighted it.
In general though, I don’t think it’ll add too much value and don’t think she should stress about adding it. Definitely not worth another semester.
I wouldn’t worry about it now. My son picked up a few certs while he was in college that he think helped him attain a job after college but he’s in a STEM field where that’s pretty much the norm. It was often just something that was attached to a class with just a little extra work and a test. I wouldn’t focus on random certs now.
Thanks all…She’s not particularly stressed about it, and doesn’t plan to take more classes for a certificate, but wants to try to get the most bang for the buck with the electives she does choose. We’ll see how it all plays out. 
D attended a school at which certificate programs were available to undergrads with a certain gpa or above. She completed a program along with her degree ( she had both a major and a minor). The program was very helpful in her getting internships and making connections in her field.which led to her getting a full time job.
If your child is a liberal arts major and has a particular career interest, she should look into it.
I think some of the certificate programs or even minors are simply another way for colleges to put a couple of extra bucks in the college’s till. For example a business college in a university might offer a business minor to students in other colleges under university umbrella the primary reason to get some extra tuition dollars for the college. Some certificates and minors completed won’t even be noted on transcript as earned.
I had certifications actually help me with me job searches.
I am certified in a second language, and most employers ask me if I have the certification.
I am also certified to work on computers adaptable for the disabled. Both certificates were gained while implementing a couple of extra classes in my coursework because a LOT of the required coursework covered the certificates. I’m paid extra for these certifications.
I’ve been considering going back to school part time in pursuit of some tech type certificates. Subject matter I am interested in and can use to make money (more importantly for my hobbies, but also to make money), but I don’t have the math chops for a computer science degree nor do I have any desire to go back to school for that long. I just want to learn a few specific things. In my mind, this sort of thing is what a certificate is for. If there is something highly relevant to her interests and skills that dovetails nicely into her major it may be worth looking into if nothing else for the skills she might gain by taking those courses, but it’s not going to be make or break.
I will say, however, I worked for a company out of college for which there were zillions of entry level applicants from every major possible, and most of them had no relevant experience in the field-- including the ones we hired. In that situation, something like a cert or any relevant coursework would definitely be eye catching on a resume. So if she is considering majors that don’t directly correlate with a certain job, certs and/or relevant coursework may not be totally without worth. It can be one more thing to specialize a broad degree program, but time might be better spent pursuing internships that accomplish the same thing.