Undergraduate Certificates in Public Workforce Skills
Build your future and lead your community.
These certificates in public workforce skills will help you develop the technical and research competencies increasingly required by public, nonprofit and policy-focused employers. These credentials are a lever for your future that help you become a civic-minded leader ready to solve real-world problems.
These stackable, transcript-recognized certificates can be completed alongside any major and added to your resume to signal concrete technical readiness to employers and graduate programs.
Your future employer is looking for these skills.
Employers are rapidly moving towards skills-based hiring. National employer surveys show a strong demand for technical competencies such as Excel, basic quantitative analysis and data visualization.
Certificate in Public Workforce Skills: Data Analytics and Technology (3 Credits)
Master the technical data skills needed to excel in public and nonprofit organizations. This pathway focuses on your ability to effectively collect, manage and analyze the data required to succeed in modern departments and agencies.
Program Highlights:
- Excel Proficiency: Gain mastery in Microsoft Excel – the tool that 100% of surveyed public-sector employers expect recent hires to use frequently.
- Visual storytelling: Present data and analysis clearly through professional tables, charts and visualizations using Tableau.
- Policy Connection: Practice connecting data management and presentation directly to real-world public policy questions.
Curriculum (Choose three 1-credit hour courses):
Certificate in Public Workforce Skills: Advanced Research
Elevate your career with applied research experience. This stackable certificate is designed for students who want to deepen their research skills and seek a structured pathway into undergraduate research, applied projects or graduate study.
Program Highlights:
- National Distinction: Enroll in a unique program that is the only one in the country to offer a formal transcript-recognized credential for undergraduate public affairs research.
- Applied Problem Solving: Tackle real, contemporary challenges sponsored by government or nonprofit agencies through hands-on capstone experiences.
- Master Advanced Methods: Build a sophisticated toolkit in qualitative fieldwork, Python programming or multivariate regression.
Curriculum (One Methods course + One Experience Course):
Methods Courses (Choose at least one – 3 credits):
- PUBAFRS 4040 – Public Sector Data Sciences and Management
- PUBAFRS 5573 – Qualitative Methods in Public Affairs Practice
- PUBAFRS 5571 – Multivariate Regression Analysis
Research Experience (Choose one):