Online Post-Bachelor's Certificate in Program Evaluation

The Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Program Evaluation at UNC Greensboro provides professional association evaluator competencies to equip current and future evaluators. Through this online program, they develop a breadth of understanding of culturally-responsive approach, requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities to conduct evaluations in any discipline.

Program evaluation as a field is concerned with the systematic collection of evidence to determine the merit, worth, and significance of a program. It aims to understand and improve social programs so that they are more responsive to participants’ needs. Program initiatives take place in multiple arenas, including government, non-profit, public health, and educational institutions. UNCG’s certificate in program evaluation will prepare students to lead these efforts in all sectors of life.

THe Program Evaluation P.B.C. Program Distinctions

Students in the P.B.C. in Program Evaluation program will get to work UNC Greensboro’s internationally-recognized faculty, who have developed a comprehensive range of academic and hands-on program experiences to enrich student understanding of educational research methodology in both program evaluation and measurement and quantitative methods.

The program emphasizes learning by doing. UNCG highlights practical evaluation work, real clients, multiple program settings, and local, national, and international projects rather than classroom-only instruction. Students are expected to design and critique actual evaluations instead of simply studying evaluation theory.

THe Program Evaluation Student Experience

If your work involves answering questions like “Did this program work?”, “How can we improve it?”, or “What evidence should guide future decisions?”, this certificate is designed for that purpose.

The rigor of academic training in a post-baccalaureate certificate in Program Evaluation is enhanced by hands-on, practical evaluation, measurement, and assessment work with clients in a variety of diverse local, national, and international program settings. 

Students will complete the P.B.C. with 12 credit hours. Coursework includes:

• Applied Educational Evaluation
• Approaches to Collaborative Research and Evaluation in Education
• Evaluation of Educational Programs
• Foundations of Qualitative Research Methods
• Culturally Responsive Approaches to Research and Evaluation
• Validity and Validation

After Receiving a Certificate in Program Evaluation

Upon completion of their Program Evaluation P.B.C., students will be competent in the practical craft of program evaluation. They will be able to design and manage evaluation projects. In addition, they will demonstrate their ability to:

• Articulate what makes program evaluators distinct as practicing professionals
• Understand ethical issues in evaluation and gain knowledge of evaluation competencies
• Evaluate and reflect their cultural location, personal and conceptual presuppositions and assumptions they bring to evaluation and research
• Identify key principles of culturally responsive evaluation and research
• Investigate theoretical possibilities and various ways of applying culturally responsive strategies in different research and evaluation contexts
• Reflect on and identify key challenges and issues encountered in the field
• Critique program evaluations planned by others

The most common job titles for Program Evaluators on recruitment websites include:

• Monitoring and Evaluation Analyst
• Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Specialist
• Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning Officer
• Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist
• Research Analyst
• Research and Impact Manager
• Outcomes Specialist
• Evaluation Consultant
• Research Strategy Analyst
• Senior Research Analyst
• Evaluation and Research Manager
• Design, Monitoring, and Evaluation Specialist
• Inspector General
• Chief Evaluation Officer