Overview

The Certificate in Computing Applications is a cross-disciplinary course of study in the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and Business. It is designed for undergraduates not already enrolled in majors in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or Computer Engineering who wish to enhance their degree and employment possibilities by adding expertise in computing applications. The certificate program focuses on teaching students the essential skills required to develop and use computing applications in their subject domains. This certificate program will help students to be successful in today's workplace, ensuring they have the basic knowledge of programming languages and computer systems needed to enhance their employment opportunities.

The certificate program is offered jointly among the three colleges and their respective departments housing the majors of computer science, computer engineering, software engineering, and management information systems.

The program consists of 9 credit hours selected from the core and 12 credits hours in electives. 

Enrollment in the Certificate

Students can email csadvising@iastate.edu for help enrolling in the certificate.

Requirements

• An undergraduate certificate has the following requirements and understandings:
• A student has received either an associate of arts (AA) or associate of science (AS) degree or a baccalaureate degree from any accredited institution or will earn an ISU baccalaureate degree at the same time or before the requirements for the certificate are completed.
• Admissions Criteria
  • Students earning a certificate with a baccalaureate degree must meet all ISU admission requirements for either freshman (https://www.admissions.iastate.edu/freshman) or transfer students (https://www.admissions.iastate.edu/transfer)
  • Students earning a certificate without an ISU baccalaureate degree apply as a non-degree seeking student and will be asked by Admissions if their intent is to declare a certificate. Students must have earned an associate of arts, an associate of science, or baccalaureate degree prior to being admitted to the certificate program. Students should refer to the admissions website (https://www.admissions.iastate.edu/nondegree/undergraduate_requirements) for admission requirements for nondegree undergraduate students. Students must meet any additional admission requirements for the certificate.
• Requirements for Certificates
  • All certificates require at least 20 credits, including
    • at least 9 credits in courses numbered 3000 or above.
    • at least 6 credits taken at Iowa State University.
    • all prerequisite requirements for the certificate must be met as part of fulfilling the requirements for the certificate.
  • Credits used to meet the certificate requirements may be used to satisfy the credit requirement for graduation and to meet credit requirements in courses numbered 3000 or above.
  • Courses taken for a certificate may not be taken on a pass-not pass basis.
  • A cumulative grade point average of at least 2.00 is required in all courses taken at ISU towards the certificate.
  • A student may not receive both an undergraduate major and a certificate of the same name.
• Awarding of Certificates
  • The following criteria must be met prior to the award of a certificate:
    • For students earning an ISU baccalaureate degree, a certificate is awarded concurrent with or after the ISU baccalaureate degree.
    • For students that have received a baccalaureate, associate of arts, or an associate of science degree from any accredited institution, a certificate is awarded upon completion of the certificate requirements.
  • A notation of a completed certificate will be made on a student's transcript and a printed certificate will be awarded.

Part 1 is made up of 9-10 Credits where students will complete either Sequence 1 or Sequence 2.

Part 2 is 12 Credits made up of designated electives for the certificate.

Students will choose one elective course from the following list of courses and are responsible for satisfying the course prerequisites of the elective selected.

• CPR E 2300 Cyber Security Fundamentals
• BCBIO 3220 Introduction to Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
• L A 2110 Digital Design Methods for Landscape Architecture
• C R P 2510 Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems
• STAT 3010 Intermediate Statistical Concepts and Methods
• PSYCH 3010 Research Design and Methodology
• SOC 3020 Research Methods for the Social Sciences
• ECON 2070 Applied Economic Optimization
• Any course at 3000 level or above in Computer Science (ComS), Computer Engineering (CprE), Management Information Systems (MIS), or Software Engineering (SE)

The remaining 9 credits of electives are intended to allow students to develop further computing applications expertise, especially within their major. These 9 elective credits can be advanced courses in their major, courses on the above electives list, or any other coursework approved by the Computer Science Advisor on the “request for undergraduate certificate.”