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Graduate certificates

The Lifelong Learning and Adult Education program offers four professional postbaccalaureate certificates:

  • Adult Basic Education (via World Campus)
  • Distance Education (via World Campus)
  • Family Literacy (via World Campus)
  • Adult Education in the Health and Medical Professions (at Harrisburg).
Certificate in Adult Basic Education (ABE): 

The 12-credit certificate is designed for professionals who currently work, or wish to work, with adults or out-of-school youth who struggle with reading, writing, numeracy, and/or English language proficiency. The focus of the ABE curriculum is to deepen professional knowledge so that educators can more effectively teach adult literacy and numeracy and expand and strengthen adults' proficiency in literacy and numeracy; to enhance students’ ability to apply these strategies in their professional practice, and to advance the overall quality of instruction for students enrolled in adult basic education. The certificate includes three required courses and one elective, which allows students to tailor the program to their specific interests, such as ESL, program planning and administration, distance education, educational technology, or adult learning. Penn State is an Act 48-approved provider for Pennsylvania educators, so the courses for the Postbaccalaureate Certificate in Adult Basic Education may count toward professional development hours. Learn more

Certificate in Adult Education in the Health and Medical Professions: 

This 12-credit certificate is meant to assist medical/health professionals in increasing their knowledge and competence in educating adult learners in medical education/health science settings. There are three courses required for the certificate (ADTED 460: Introduction to Adult Education; ADTED 501: Foundations of Medical Education; and ADTED 505: The Teaching of Adults). There is one graduate-level elective course related to the candidate’s specific interest in medical/health education, determined and approved by the faculty members in charge of the Graduate Certificate in Adult Education in the Health and Medical Professions at the Harrisburg campus. Learn more

Certificate in Distance Education: 

This 12-credit certificate is designed to help students improve their understanding of online course design and development; enhance their knowledge of distance learning environments, teaching, and evaluation; and, examine how the adult learner fits into distance education. Perspective students may pursue this certificate by taking courses online through World Campus. This certificate carries the Pennsylvania State Education Association's (PSEA) (http://www.psea.org/) Seal of Recognition, the highest level of endorsement that the association awards to graduate and professional development programs. Penn State is an Act 48-approved provider (https://www.perm.ed.state.pa.us/) for Pennsylvania educators, so the courses in the Certificate in Distance Education program count toward professional development hours. Learn more

Certificate in Family Literacy: 

This 12-credit certificate brings experts in the field of family literacy together with specialists in early childhood education and adult education to offer a multidisciplinary and integrated approach to literacy instruction. Participants are engaged in learning how to support children’s emerging language and literacy development and enhance parents’ knowledge regarding their roles and responsibilities as their children’s first teachers. This online Certificate in Family Literacy program was created as a partnership between the Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy at Penn State and the National Center for Family Literacy to provide professional development that will make a difference for educators and the families they serve. Learn more