Certificate Programs

Please use the Undergraduate Declaration of Major, Minor, and Certificate Form to add a certificate. Notice of successful completion is placed on the transcript at time of graduation. There is not a separate certificate document.

An Important Note: Although we do not require department permission, before submitting the form to add a certificate please contact IS Director of Undergraduate Programs, Richard Sponaugle, rspona1@umbc.edu, for information and prerequisites. Some individual courses may require permission to enroll, and it is important to discuss the timing of offerings and prereqs before submitting the form for your preferred certificate.

Undergraduate Upper Division Certificates

  • Business Analytics Certificate: This certificate will expose our students and provide them experience with foundational skills in data science and business analysis to analyze organizational datasets using the latest software, such as Python, Tableau, R, and Weka. These skills are highly sought after by employers in both the public and private sectors. Students will also be trained on ethical, legal, and management concepts related to managing and analyzing business datasets.

  • Cybersecurity Informatics Certificate: To equip students to solve cybersecurity-related problems in the real world, particularly those related to the protection and analysis of information in real organizational contexts. Certificate students are required to synthesize new concepts and skills acquired in the courses (in computer security, data mining, software security, and mobile computing) into a final cybersecurity informatics experience.
  • Decision Making Support Certificate: To increase efficiency and effectiveness many organizations rely upon decision-making support built into their data and information systems. This upper division certificate in Decision Making Support provides students with the background and experience necessary to create automated information systems including coursework in decision support, artificial intelligence, and enterprise management topics.
  • Health IT Certificate: The core courses in this certificate teach students about the fundamental recurring concepts and essential applications in health IT. The electives provide students with knowledge about the underlying technologies that support health IT solutions. The concepts and skills acquired in the courses are synthesized into a final health IT experience.
  • Network Administration Certificate: Today’s information systems are built using networked components. This upper division certificate in Network Administration provides students with the knowledge and experience necessary to analyze, design, maintain, and administer networked-based information systems for a variety of organizations.
  • User Experience, Web, and Mobile Development Certificate:  Many modern information systems are designed for web access. This upper division certificate in web design allows students to gain the knowledge and experience necessary to analyze, design and create web-based interfaces for a variety of organizations through a combination of courses that address high-level programming, content creation, and computer interface design.

Management and Business Program

The Department of Information Systems (IS) offers certificates designed to prepare students for careers in business and government as well as help build an educational pathway toward graduate studies in Business Administration.

The certificate options below are open to all students. Students in IS majors—particularly those majoring in Business Technology Administration (BTA)—may find these certificates desirable to deepen their business management and administration knowledge.

  • Auditing for Information Systems Certificate: The growth in information technology capabilities and the effects of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other legislation are driving demand for information technology auditors in public, private, non-profit and government sectors. The objective of this program is to prepare the student for entry positions in the IT audit field and for certification as an information systems auditor.
  • Management Science Certificate: UMBC’s Management Science Certificate Program prepares students for careers in business and government. This program is designed to supplement a liberal arts or science major; certificates must be earned concurrently with an undergraduate major. Students gain the combined benefits of their major program and a business program and have great success in obtaining employment and acceptance in top graduate and professional school programs.
  • MBA Preparatory Studies Program: The M.B.A. preparatory studies program is available to students in any major who plan to pursue an M.B.A. after graduation from UMBC. This curriculum is designed to meet the coursework requirements for entry into the M.B.A. program at many graduate business schools including The Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland – College Park. No substitutions are allowed. Completion of this curriculum does not guarantee entry into any graduate business program. Students should note that most business graduate schools require the GMAT, and many will not consider a grade below “B” in assessing entry requirements. Increasingly, business schools are requiring business work experience before admittance into a master’s program.