Certificates, Licenses and Endorsements

Undergraduate Certificate in Applied Literacy for Family & Community Helping Professionals

New Degree Earned: Undergraduate Certificate Campus: CU Denver Online This undergraduate certificate offers individuals who will work in community-based organizations — including nonprofits, school-based, and local to international organizations — an in-depth understanding of the role literacy plays in diverse families and communities.

Undergraduate Certificate in Pathways2Teaching, Paraprofessional

Degree Earned: Undergraduate Certificate Campus: CU Denver Strives to create a new generation of community-responsive educators as it begins the journey for high school juniors and seniors to become teachers. Students earn transferable college credits toward a teaching degree. The program helps meet the demand for teachers in urban and rural communities and address a lack of diversity in the teacher workforce.

Graduate Certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis

Degree Earned: Graduate Certificate Campus: CU Denver Online Offers an opportunity to become ABA certified to those who are passionate about identifying and championing the strengths and assets of children with differing abilities.

Graduate Certificate in Early Childhood Education Coaching

Featured Degree Earned: Undergraduate Certificate Graduate Certificate Campus: Online Provides experiential learning in best coaching practices for teacher-leaders, coaches, directors, principals, home childcare providers, early interventionists, special education staff or anyone looking to enhance their coaching skills.

Graduate Certificate in Early Childhood Leadership, Buell Program

Degree Earned: Graduate Certificate Campus: CU Denver Prepares students to become influential leaders who will transform the landscape of early childhood education. The coursework focuses on leadership practices specific to child development, learning organizations, and community and systems change that advance equity, excellence, and opportunity among all young children and families. Generously funded by the Buell Foundation.

Graduate Certificate in Early Literacy

Degree Earned: Graduate Certificate Campus: CU Denver Equips preschool and primary grade teachers and para-educators with advanced skills in the development, assessment, and instruction of literacy for young learners. The certificate includes methods that help all learners-including those who are linguistically or culturally diverse-gain important literacy skills.

Graduate Certificate in Highly Effective School Libraries

Degree Earned: Graduate Certificate Campus: Online Equips teacher librarians to lead the way in digital, media, and information literacy development in their schools and create an inclusive, future-ready learning culture for building essential student skills.

Graduate Certificate in Leadership for Learning Design and Technology

Degree Earned: Graduate Certificate Campus: Online CU Denver’s Leadership for Learning Design and Technology certificate focuses on transformative change, culture, and initiative for modern learning organizations; with distinct themes of vision building, culture shifting, innovation nurturing, business modeling, and knowledge management.

Graduate Certificate in Learning Experience Design

Degree Earned: Graduate Certificate Campus: Online CU Denver’s Learning Experience Design certificate focuses on human centered design, learning engagement and motivation, and learning frameworks. You’ll explore distinct themes of design-thinking, learning aesthetics, universal design, and system usability.

Graduate Certificate in Literacy and Language Development for Diverse Learners

Degree Earned: Graduate Certificate Campus: Online Prepares educators to develop literacy and language development skills that are a crucial step in children's growth and development. The certificate includes methods that help all learners-including those who are linguistically or culturally diverse-gain important literacy skills.

Graduate Certificate in Mathematical Content Knowledge for Teaching

Degree Earned: Graduate Certificate Campus: CU Denver Fosters educators' success by enhancing their ability to engage students in math reasoning while increasing their own knowledge of mathematical content.

Graduate Certificate in Mathematics Learning and Teaching PK-12

New Degree Earned: Graduate Certificate Campus: Off campus Advance your career to support pre-K through 12th grade students’ mathematics learning.

Graduate Certificate in Online Teaching and Learning

Degree Earned: Graduate Certificate Campus: Online CU Denver’s Online Teaching and Learning certificate focuses on effective online & hybrid learning designs, high impact practices, and modern learners; with distinct themes of instructional design, inclusive pedagogies, active learning, and emerging pedagogies.

Graduate Certificate in Open Digital Education

Degree Earned: Graduate Certificate Campus: Online The Open Digital Education certificate focuses on critical digital pedagogy, critical instructional design, open pedagogy, and media literacy; with distinct themes of humanistic education, centered on learner equity, inclusion, agency, community, and creativity.

Graduate Certificate in Teaching for Cultural and Linguistic Diversity

Degree Earned: Graduate Certificate Campus: CU Denver Provides content-area teachers (math, science, social studies, etc.) with a foundation of teaching content for multilingual students. The certificate is also valuable to content-area coaches or administrators with a commitment to diversity and social justice, and who provide support for teachers with multilingual learners in K - 12 classrooms.

Administrator, Executive Leadership

Degree Earned: License Campus: CU Denver Online Prepares educators to take all required licensure exams, opening the door to executive roles-such as president, superintendent, and others-at the district level. Educators receive the skills needed to lead districts to be inclusive, highly effective, and future-ready.

Counselor License

Degree Earned: License Campus: CU Denver Designed for graduates of the MA in counseling program in all three tracks- Clinical Mental Health, Couples and Family Counseling, and School Counseling-to prepare for several counseling licenses in Colorado and nationally. Advanced students are eligible to start taking licensure exams prior to graduation.

Early Childhood Special Education Specialist License

Degree Earned: License Campus: CU Denver Online Offers a perfect fit for those interested in providing culturally responsive, family-centered, developmentally effective early education for children with disabilities in an inclusive setting. Specialists in early childhood special education are in high demand in Colorado and nationally, and play an important role as both lead teachers and specialists who support classroom teachers.

Principal License

Degree Earned: License Campus: CU Denver Online Designed for elementary or secondary educators interested in obtaining a principal license. This path to leadership develops in-depth understanding about roles and responsibilities, contemporary educational issues, collaboration within and across communities, and a thorough awareness of the legal, financial, and political dimensions of schools and school districts.

Endorsement, Bilingual Education Specialist

Degree Earned: Endorsement Campus: CU Denver Designed for currently licensed teachers seeking career advancement and the knowledge and tools needed to work more effectively with multilingual learners. The 10-credit-hour program may be added to the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education endorsement.

Endorsement, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education

Degree Earned: Endorsement Campus: CU Denver Designed for currently licensed teachers who are seeking career advancement and the knowledge and tools needed to support diverse languages, cultures, and abilities in the classroom. The endorsement is available with and without an MA.

Endorsement, Early Childhood Special Education Specialist

Degree Earned: Endorsement Campus: CU Denver Online Designed for teachers with early childhood, elementary, or special education licenses to advance and deepen their expertise in educating young children with special needs and supporting their families. On-campus, hybrid, or fully online formats are available. Recipients become lead teachers in classrooms or specialists supporting classroom teachers.

Endorsement, Instructional Technology Specialist

Degree Earned: Endorsement Campus: CU Denver The Instructional Technology Specialist endorsement program will prepare you to meet the requirements from the Colorado Department of Education for an added Instructional Technology Specialist endorsement to your current teaching license.

Endorsement, Middle School Math

Degree Earned: Endorsement Campus: Online Designed for currently licensed teachers seeking career advancement and a deeper understanding of how to engage middle school students in math. This endorsement gives teachers the unique qualifications needed to support and challenge students with diverse abilities and backgrounds.

Endorsement, Reading Teacher

Degree Earned: Endorsement Campus: CU Denver Online Prepares individuals to meet the requirements of the revised Colorado READ Act. The program enhances literacy instruction skills and credentials while providing advanced knowledge and evidence-based training to work with diverse student populations on developing their reading, writing, and oral language skills.

Endorsement, Special Education Generalist

Degree Earned: Endorsement Campus: CU Denver Prepares teachers holding an initial license to identify and champion the strengths and assets of individuals ages 5 - 21 with differing abilities, including those with identified disabilities. Designed for teachers who want an endorsement but are not seeking a master's, equipping them with impactful and effective skills for leading inclusive classrooms and collaborating with other professionals.

Endorsement, Teacher Librarian

Degree Earned: Endorsement Campus: CU Denver The Teacher Librarian endorsement program will prepare you to meet the requirements from the Colorado Department of Education for an added Teacher Librarian endorsement to your current teaching license.