International Development (Graduate Certificate)

The graduate certificate in international development requires the completion of 15 credit hours. The certificate is comprised of six required courses: Three 3-credit courses, two 1.5-credit courses and one 3-credit internship or practicum. Courses are offered completely online to a local, national, and international audience.

The program will be taught from the perspective of practical field experience based upon a good grasp of the major issues in development, the role of international institutions in development and the key skills in the area—grant writing/management, project management and monitoring, and evaluation. This approach will provide a well-balanced transdisciplinary approach to the exciting and complex field of development.

The graduate certificate program can be completed on either a full-time or part-time basis. It is likely that students will be able to complete the full program in one calendar year.

A new cohort will be enrolled each September but students can take up to two years to finish the program.

Students will be required to take all six courses detailed below with the two theory courses to be taken prior to the three practical courses. The internship/practicum component should be the last thing undertaken by the student.

Required Courses

Admission Requirements

Preferences for admittance to the program will be given to individuals already working in the field of international development or other international organizations seeking to advance their careers through additional certification. The program will also be strongly looking to recruit individuals from the developing world with strong academic backgrounds who are looking to make themselves attractive to international development recruiters. Individuals with no international development background but with a strong academic background in development economics, international relations, or relevant technical disciplines (IT, health, engineering) will also be considered.

To be accepted in the program, applicants must:

Submit a completed Graduate Application form.
Have earned a Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent.
Submit a resume.
Submit official transcripts from every institution previously attended.
Submit a TOEFL (or IELTS) score that meets the requirements of the University of Massachusetts Boston for graduate study.
Submit two letters of recommendation and a statement of interests/intent.
Have access to computer technology for online study.

Applicants whose undergraduate work was completed outside of the United States may be required to submit English proficiency test results, even if they are permanent residents or citizens of the U.S. Please refer to the International Graduate Applicants page to see if this requirement applies to you.