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Undergraduate Certificate in Aging Studies
Program at a Glance
9 Credits
(three 3-credit courses)
Fully online
make your own schedule
Open to everyone
Complete in as little as two semesters
For non-current VCU students to apply:
Visit this link, select your desired semester, click “Certificate” and “fully online studies” and complete the application.
For current VCU students to apply:
Email Catherine MacDonald at macdonaldcs@vcu.edu with your statement of purpose. In order to enroll in the program, current students must have a 2.5 GPA or higher.
Our undergraduate certificate in aging studies will give you a cost-effective competitive edge by teaching in demand, applicable skills to make a difference in people's lives. In only 9 credits, you can graduate prepared to enter the workforce or develop the knowledge and skills needed to advance your career. Join us today and help make meaningful change in today's changing world.
The entire program can be completed online. In other words, you don't have to come to campus to earn your Undergraduate Certificate in Aging Studies.
You can complete the program as a degree-seeking or non-degree-seeking student. You don’t have to attend VCU to enroll. Current VCU students can complete the certificate alongside their degree program, with aging studies courses also counting for their required electives. Individuals not attending VCU and current VCU students are all welcome to apply.
We connect students with employers throughout the program and after graduation. VCU Gerontology has a strong, positive relationship with the wider community, including a vast network of alumni and employers, which provides students with many opportunities for networking, learning, engaging and applying knowledge and skills acquired from courses.
Student Learning Outcomes
- Students in the Undergraduate Certificate in Aging Studies program will explore the diverse, growing and dynamic availability of careers in gerontology and will focus on applying gerontological concepts to practical and professional situations.
- Students will articulate and integrate the physical and psychosocial experiences inherent in the multidimensional experience of aging.
- Students will critically evaluate major societal challenges and opportunities resulting from population aging.
- Students will be able to describe the bio-psycho-social changes that occur with aging.
- Students will articulate how social processes, places and policies shape aging.
- Students will articulate the skills necessary for success in government, private-sector and non-profit positions that require the integration of gerontological knowledge and practice.
Program Goals and Outcomes
Our undergraduate certificate in aging studies will give you a cost-effective competitive edge. In only 9 credits, you can graduate prepared to enter the workforce or develop the knowledge and skills needed to advance your career. Contact us today to learn more: Email Catherine Macdonald at macdonaldcs@vcu.edu.
You will learn to:
- critically evaluate major societal challenges and opportunities resulting from population aging
- articulate how social processes, places and policies shape aging
- demonstrate understanding of adult development
- explore career paths and apply gerontological concepts to practical and professional opportunities
- and more!
The Undergraduate Certificate in Aging Studies program prepares students for applying specialized gerontological knowledge to their career field.
In this program, students will explore the diverse, growing and dynamic availability of careers in gerontology and will focus on applying gerontological concepts to practical and professional situations.
Graduates will be prepared to enter the workforce by demonstrating understanding of adult development and elderhood from a biological, psychological, social and spiritual perspective.
GRTY 200. Disrupting Ageism: Diversity and Aging (3 credits)
GRTY 300. Human Longevity: An Exploration of Career Opportunities (3 credits)
GRTY 410. Perspectives on Aging (3 credits)
Undergraduate students who have completed or are enrolled in GRTY 200, 410, and 300 may count these courses toward the Undergraduate Certificate in Aging Studies and electives toward their majors as appropriate.
A list of Gerontology courses can be found in the VCU Bulletin*
*The course list is not exhaustive of all topics that may be offered in the Department of Gerontology.
Contact us today to learn more
Email Catherine MacDonald at macdonaldcs@vcu.edu.