The curriculum for the community and economic development graduate certificate consists of five 3-credit courses. The certificate program can deliver the knowledge and skills you need to address important issues in community and economic development. If you want to go on to complete a master's degree, you can roll these credits into Penn State's online Master of Professional Studies in Community and Economic Development.
The five core courses introduce the field and cover the following topics:
- principles of community and economic development
- community organization and decision making
- economic development and planning
- population, land use, and municipal finance
- techniques and methods of community and economic development
The delivery method for the core courses in this program is online group, which means that students progress together through each course. The courses are offered in a time frame comparable to a traditional semester schedule, with fixed start and end dates. The course content and activities are available in electronic format, and access to the Web is required in order to complete this program.