The Graduate Certificate in Business Leadership is designed to help students curate a personal leadership style that inspires team and business success, while nurturing healthy professional relationships. This program is best suited for early-to-mid-career professionals who want to hone their business leadership skills. It equips students with practical tools to foster positive, collaborative organizational cultures and navigate leadership challenges.

Students will tackle real-world challenges through courses on influencing others, driving strategic change, negotiation, conflict management, team leadership, and technology leadership. An optional leadership challenge course will provide students the opportunity to assess their abilities and tackle a personalized leadership project.

The Graduate Certificate in Business Leadership prepares students to thrive as leaders in today’s dynamic, global business environment.

Eligibility

The Graduate Certificate in Business Leadership is open to all Non-Degree Studies (NDS) students and NC State graduate students. Non-MBA students must begin the certificate in the spring semester.

All students applying for enrollment into a graduate certificate program must:

• Hold a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution
• Submit a transcript indicating degree conferral
• Submit a resume
• Submit a personal statement

Plan of Study

The Graduate Certificate in Business Leadership is a graduate-level certificate program. To earn the NC State Graduate Certificate in Business Leadership, students must complete 12 credit hours of coursework from the list of required and elective courses. This certificate is typically completed in less than two years and must be completed within four years following the first applicable course.

Throughout the program, students must meet the following academic performance requirements:

• Minimum 3.0 GPA on all certificate coursework. Note: All grades on courses taken toward the certificate program in courses numbered 400 and above are included in the GPA.
• Minimum grade of C- on a course for it to count toward completion of the certificate.

This certificate is stackable and can be applied to Poole College’s master’s degree business programs. Students may earn multiple certificates, but each must include at least nine unique credit hours.

Career Prospects

Today’s workforce expects more from its leaders. Between the challenges presented by AI and a competitive jobs market, teams crave security and psychological safety. Today’s leaders are expected to skillfully balance expectations with flexibility and accountability with follow-through and support. Learn how to attract and retain talent through exceptional leadership skills that show understanding of both the bottom line and building a company culture that keeps teammates giving their best.

The Graduate Certificate in Business Leadership provides the psychological and organizational understanding needed to excel in a leadership role. Learn how to give your teams the inspiration and opportunities for growth required to develop loyalty alongside tools for meeting metrics and delivering results. In addition to people skills, you’ll gain an understanding of the technological expectations leaders face today in this rapidly evolving landscape. The skills delivered in this graduate certificate prepare leaders for today’s challenging managerial positions.

This certificate program is stackable, meaning the credits earned in this certificate can be applied to further education. Gain the knowledge you need for immediate promotion while building towards an MBA or other advanced degree.