Master Candidate Pursuing a Graduate Certificate
A student who is currently seeking to earn an MBA or MS degree from the PSB&E and is interested in pursuing a graduate certificate must complete the required courses for the certificate program. A minimum of 50 percent of the graduate certificate courses must be earned from the Plaster School of Business & Entrepreneurship. Only credit earned within the five-year period preceding the completion of all certification requirements, whether at the Lindenwood Plaster School of Business & Entrepreneurship or elsewhere, is counted toward a certificate.
Note that students must determine whether they wish to complete the certificate program and/or pursue a graduate business degree such as an MA, MAcc, MBA, , MHA, or MS prior to the completion of their third certificate course (nine credit hours). In the scenario in which a student decides to pursue both a certificate and a graduate degree (MBA or MS), the credit hours required for the graduate degree must be taken in addition to the credit hours required for their graduate certificate program. The graduate must complete the total number of credit hours sufficient to satisfy both the certificate and degree program requirements.
If, by the nine credit hour mark, a student decides to pursue a graduate degree, the graduate certificate courses the student has taken may be used to fulfill the degree requirements of the MA, MAcc, MBA, MHA, or MS. In this case, the graduate courses taken will satisfy only the requirements of the degree program, and no graduate certificate will be earned or issued.