{"id":4720,"date":"2024-07-30T13:56:44","date_gmt":"2024-07-30T13:56:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/?p=4720"},"modified":"2025-11-26T15:06:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T15:06:26","slug":"purdues-stackable-online-graduate-certificates-can-help-professionals-get-more-return-on-investment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/purdues-stackable-online-graduate-certificates-can-help-professionals-get-more-return-on-investment\/","title":{"rendered":"Purdue\u2019s Stackable Online Graduate Certificates Can Help Professionals Get More Return-On-Investment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When it comes to investing in higher education, professionals are focused on maximizing their return-on-investment (ROI). The benefits of earning a graduate degree are well-documented<\/a>: graduate programs can increase career mobility, increase earning potential, and provide valuable networking opportunities. However, in today\u2019s skills economy<\/a>, many professionals are seeking out training that is quick, affordable, and focused on building specific career skills. They want to reap the benefits of a graduate degree \u2013 but for less cost and less of a time investment than traditional master\u2019s and doctoral programs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While traditional graduate programs are still a great option for developing specialized expertise, graduate certificates \u2013 which offer fast-tracked training \u2013 can be a great jumping-off point for professionals who want to upskill on a short timeline. Graduate certificates can be completed quickly, they focus on specific career competencies, and they\u2019re affordable and accessible to most professionals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Forbes<\/a>, graduate certificates can help professionals prove their skills to potential employers and increase ROI by providing targeted job training. Whether completed on their own, added to a master\u2019s or doctoral program, or used as a stepping-stone to a traditional graduate program, graduate certificates provide busy professionals with another way to advance their careers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Graduate Certificates Can Increase Return-On-Investment<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Online graduate certificates help universities provide value for working professionals who want to build new skills quickly and affordably. Read on to learn why: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Graduate Certificates Require Less of a Time and Money Commitment than Full Degrees<\/strong> <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Since graduate certificates require fewer credits than master\u2019s and doctoral programs, they can be completed more quickly \u2013 and for less money. In most graduate programs, students pay by credit, meaning the more credits they take, the more money the program will cost. For a graduate certificate, students pay for a fraction of the credits in a traditional graduate program, making the certificate more affordable. They also finish the certificate program faster. For professionals who want to showcase a higher level of educational attainment and add specific skills to their resume without committing to a longer, more expensive program, graduate certificates provide significant value at less-imposing prices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Graduate Certificates are Stackable Credentials that Teach Impactful Skills<\/strong> <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Graduate certificates are short, skill-based programs that typically consist of three to four courses. Since they can be completed in less time than a traditional degree, students can take multiple graduate certificates at once and stack credentials easily or add them to a master\u2019s or doctoral degree. Students can choose graduate certificates that fit with their career goals and quickly add them to their resumes, demonstrating new competencies that can help them stand out in the job market. They are also career-specific \u2013 students only take courses that are relevant to their goals, rather than completing a broad range of courses. This makes graduate certificates a great option for professionals who want to gain specific skills quickly and design their education around their career goals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \u201cI think of graduate certificates as time- and cost-effective career advancement pathways,\u201d said Dimitri Peroulis,  senior vice president for Partnerships and Online at Purdue University and the Reilly Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. \u201cThey are stackable and customizable for busy working professionals who want to see immediate benefits towards their professional goals.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      1. Graduate Certificates Can Help Students Work Towards a Full Degree<\/strong> <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        Graduate certificates are not only valuable credentials on their own; they also help professionals work toward master\u2019s or doctoral degrees. Since committing to a full degree is a big investment, graduate certificates can act as an on-ramp, giving potential master\u2019s or doctoral students exposure to graduate-level coursework and helping them earn credits that can be applied to a full degree in the future. Many graduate certificates will specify which credits earned by completing the certificate can be applied to relevant master\u2019s or doctoral programs. For example, credits from Purdue University\u2019s online Communication and Leadership Graduate Certificate<\/a> can be applied to Purdue\u2019s online Master of Science in Communication<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        But what if your plans to earn a master\u2019s or doctorate change? No worries \u2013 even if you don\u2019t complete any other graduate coursework, a graduate certificate still shows potential employers that you\u2019ve attained a specific skill or studied a subject at a higher level than college graduates.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \u201cI started my journey toward an online graduate degree by earning a graduate certificate first,\u201d said Mitchell Farmer, director of student experience for Purdue University\u2019s online programs. \u201cThis allowed me to quickly signal new skills and knowledge to the market. Whether you continue seamlessly into a degree program or move forward on your professional path, certificates provide a targeted, flexible option for meeting your educational goals.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Get Job-Ready Skills with Purdue University\u2019s Online Graduate Certificates<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Purdue University, a leading institution in providing practical graduate education, offers over 35 fully online graduate certificates designed to give professionals focused career training in in-demand areas like aviation, business and economics, communication, engineering, healthcare and more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Visit our website<\/a> to learn more about graduate certificate options and how you can build in-demand skills in a fast and affordable format. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        When it comes to investing in higher education, professionals are focused on maximizing their return-on-investment (ROI). The benefits of earning a graduate degree are well-documented: graduate programs can increase career mobility, increase earning potential, and provide valuable networking opportunities. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":4721,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[],"area-of-study":[],"person":[74],"class_list":["post-4720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-success","person-students"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/story.jpg",1800,1350,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/story.jpg",1800,1350,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/story.jpg",1800,1350,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/story-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/story-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/story-1024x768.jpg",1024,768,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/story-1536x1152.jpg",1536,1152,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/story.jpg",1800,1350,false],"rt_custom":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/story.jpg",1800,1350,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"RM Barton","author_link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/author\/barton53\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Student Success<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"When it comes to investing in higher education, professionals are focused on maximizing their return-on-investment (ROI). The benefits of earning a graduate degree are well-documented: graduate programs can increase career mobility, increase earning potential, and provide valuable networking opportunities.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4720"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6566,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4720\/revisions\/6566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4720"},{"taxonomy":"area-of-study","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/area-of-study?post=4720"},{"taxonomy":"person","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/person?post=4720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}