Central to the mission of Yale College is ensuring a broad education rooted in the liberal arts. That education should provide both breadth and depth across a wide array of disciplines, and should be responsive to the shifting landscape of those disciplines and their interrelationships.

In order to encourage students to engage within and across departmental, divisional, and disciplinary boundaries, Yale College offers interdisciplinary certificates and a broad range of skills-based certificates. 

Because they originate with faculty, certificates inherently follow existing intellectual communities, focusing on a specific area of intellectual inquiry, or contribute to the creation of new cross-sections at the university. Certificates give students the opportunity to pursue focused study complementary to or apart from their majors by providing curricular vehicles, in addition to the major, that will strengthen their liberal arts education. No certificate is a smaller version of a major. Certificates either provide opportunities to deepen a skill or to bring disparate elements into focus. Moreover, certificates offer the possibility of expanding the curriculum in ways that neither majors nor minors can.

For a complete list of existing certificates, see Certificates in Yale College, in the Yale College Programs of Study.  

Interdisciplinary Certificates

All certificates originate with the faculty, are approved by the Committee on Majors, and must be recommended to and approved by the Yale College Faculty.

Successful proposals require:

• A mission statement or abstract, and a name. Interdisciplinary certificates may not bear the name of an existing major.
• A list of 12 eligible courses and when they are likely to be offered, as well as a list of recurring events or other one-time opportunities that would be recommended to students pursuing a Certificate.
• Capstone projects, though appropriate in majors, are not optimal for certificates. Other possibilities, such as attendance at a curated series of talks, workshops, seminars, performances, or other events, or experiential learning such as research, fieldwork, or internships, affiliated with or authorized by the Certificate Advisory Council, may count toward one certificate course credit, and are encouraged.

Proposals for certificates will be subject to the following:

• At least 5 and no more than 6 course credits.
• A maximum 2-course credit overlap with the student’s major.
• A maximum of 4 course credits originating in one department or from other such disciplinary distinctions (areas of study).
• Graduate and professional school courses may count.
• All courses must be Yale University courses. Exceptions will be granted to transfer students at the discretion of the Certificate Advisory Committee.
• The declaration form for a certificate must be submitted no later than the due date for course schedules in the student’s final term of enrollment.
• Transcripts will have notation indicating successful completion of a certificate.

Proposals for new Certificates should be submitted by faculty members to the Secretary of the Committee on Majors, David Francis.

Skills-Based Certificates

Skills-based certificates are housed within a department and are most often designed for students majoring in disciplines other than the department supporting the certificate. Proposals for new departmental certificates should be submitted to the Secretary of the Committee on Majors, TBD.

Advanced Language Certificates

For questions about creating a new language certificate, contact Fernando Rubio, Director of the Language Study Committee.