The University of South Carolina’s comprehensive interdisciplinary certificates allow undergraduate students to elevate their level of academic and professional learning. Certificates are the perfect opportunity for students to learn new skills and strengthen their potential beyond their major and/or minor.
Students can apply for the following certificates: AI Literacy, Data Analytics and Visualization, Digital Studies, Project Leadership and Management, and Strategic Thinking and Communications.
USC works with students to make earning the additional certificate(s) as straightforward as possible. Enrollment into a certificate program is open any time online. To earn a certificate, you only need to pass four applicable courses. These courses have no prerequisites, and if you have previously taken a course on the approved list, it can count toward the certificate.
Shelley Dempsey and Angela Baum are the co-chairs of the Provost Advisory Council on Interdisciplinary Studies, the team that manages and develops USC’s certificate programs. They both emphasize that the program was developed with USC students in mind.
“For students, this is something truly unique to USC. You can earn certificates in many places, but opportunities like this aren’t common, particularly at large universities,” Baum says. “It’s a great opportunity that we hope students keep taking advantage of.”
Not only do the certificate programs offer an academic supplement, but once students leave USC, they have a leg up in the workforce, entering jobs with a better understanding of unique professional skillsets.
“These undergraduate certificates provide an opportunity for students to gain additional skills that might be beyond their major or minor areas of study,” Baum says. “So (the certificates) set students apart as they go out and look for jobs and have an additional skill that maybe they wouldn't have gotten through their traditional degree program.”
If you have remaining questions about the interdisciplinary certificate program, you can contact your advisor to discuss your options. For more information, additional program requirements and course lists, visit the undergraduate interdisciplinary certificate program website.