Population Studies - Graduate Certificate

Offered through the Population Program of the Institute of Behavioral Science (IBS), the graduate certificate in population studies recognizes master's and doctoral degree students for interdisciplinary work in issues related to population dynamics and its components, composition, distribution and change. The population program, which is international in scope and has an applied and policy-oriented focus, fosters research on population trends and patterns and provides training in population analysis. Students who are earning graduate degrees through the departments of geography, sociology or economics and are interested in majoring in population studies are eligible to petition for admission to the program.

Questions about the certificate program in population studies should be directed to cupc@colorado.edu

Requirements

Admission Requirements

All graduate degrees are awarded through departments and, therefore, graduate students wishing to pursue the Graduate Certificate in Population Studies must be first admitted into a departmental program. As certificates are only conferred with a degree, students must also make sure they satisfy all departmental degree requirements. For more information, please consult departmental staff.

Course Requirements

In addition, the graduate certificate in population studies requires 9-12 credits, dependent upon status as MA, MS or PhD student. The required courses include:

• Two required core courses that focus on population studies theory, methods and issues.
• For MA or MS students: an additional two courses with substantial population studies content (list below). One course must be outside the student's home discipline.
• For PhD students: an additional three courses with substantial population studies content (list below). Two courses must be outside the student's home discipline.

Extracurricular Requirements

In addition to coursework, the graduate certificate on population studies requires participation in extracurricular offerings relevant to population studies. For MA or MS students, 10 hours of participation in extracurricular activities are required. For PhD students, 15 hours of participation in extracurricular activities are required. Such offerings can include:

• Attendance at the bi-weekly Population & Health workshop in IBS.
• Attendance at CUPC research presentations in IBS, typically one-hour sessions; check IBS website for schedule.
• Participation in methodological short courses and workshops, typically ranging from 4–40 hours.
• ICPSR offers summer workshops in Boulder each year; check their schedule.
• IBS Center for Research and Computing Services offers these on occasion; check IBS events.
• Annual conference on "Integrating Genetics and Social Sciences" (IGSS) typically held in the Fall; check IBS events or contact Jason.Boardman@colorado.edu.
• Annual Migration-Climate-Health workshops typically held in May; check IBS events or contact Lori.Hunter@colorado.edu.
• IBS’ graduate student Professionalization Seminars ("ProSem"); check IBS events or contact Stefanie.Mollborn@colorado.edu.
• CARTSS dissertation writing workshop; check IBS events or contact Carew.Boulding@colorado.edu.
• Many institutions outside of CU offer workshops as well. For example, check websites for Stanford, Berkeley.

Students should alert the Certificate Director (Lori.Hunter@colorado.edu) of their intention to participate in such events for certificate credit. For more information, see the center's Graduate Certificate Program in Population Studies webpage.

Plan(s) of Study

For more information, see the center's Graduate Certificate Program in Population Studies webpage.