CVPA Design faculty with students

Design
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate (PBC)

Offered as: 
On-campus
Graduate
Certificate

The Post-Baccalaureate Certificate (PBC) in Visual Design allows students to develop their work in various design fields, including illustration, graphic design, animation, and game arts. The program is designed for students seeking to strengthen their applications to graduate school, expand their knowledge base to become more marketable in the field, or pursue creative projects under the mentorship of faculty and designers working in the area.

The 18-credit hour PBC program can assist you as you enter professional practice and/or prepare you to apply to MFA degree programs. 

PBC students:

  • have full use of studio facilities
  • attend visiting artist lectures
  • participate in all media area activities/topic-based seminars

Regularly scheduled critiques occur, and a comprehensive show of studio work will be presented upon completion. 

Visual Design PBC students take 9 credits per semester.

Fall courses:

  • ART 508 (Portfolio Intensive I) - 6 credits
  • ART 505 (Graduate Seminar) - 3 credits

Spring courses:

  • ART 509 (Portfolio Intensive II) - 6 credits
  • ART 595 (Independent Study) - 3 credits

Should a PBC student be accepted into the UMass Dartmouth MFA program, the relevant PBC credits can count toward the MFA degree.

University requirements for graduate admissions

  • Submit an application via the online portal. Be sure to provide your full legal name and to capitalize the first letter of all proper nouns.
  • Pay non-refundable $60 application fee (American Express, Discover, MasterCard or Visa) via the online portal. For Nursing applicants, the non-refundable application fee is $75.
  • Statement of Purpose, minimum 300 words. Unless otherwise indicated in the program requirement details, indicate your graduate study objectives, research interests and experience, and business or industry experience if applicable. If you are applying for a teaching or research assistantship, include any special skills or experience that would assist us in making assistantship decisions.
  • Resume
  • Transcripts for all post-secondary institutions attended (regardless of whether a credential is earned or not). Unofficial transcripts are accepted for admissions application review, once enrolled a final official transcript is required. International students applying with an transcript evaluation, please submit that document with your unofficial transcripts. International applicants for Data Science must submit semester-by-semester transcripts as well as consolidated transcripts. 
  • Many programs have specific recommendations/requirements, please see the additional program-specific requirements for more information.
  • International students: official TOEFL iBT, IELTS, Pearson PTE or Duolingo (if accepted by program) score. Unofficial scores are accepted for admissions application review, once enrolled official scores are required and must be sent by the testing agency (copies/scans not accepted). This is required of any applicant who did not earn a bachelor’s degree or higher degree from an accredited academic institution in the U.S. or accepted English-speaking country, see exemptions for more details. We require an overall/total minimum score of 72 on the TOEFL iBT or BAND 6.0 on the IELTS or a 52 on the Pearsons PTE Academic for entrance to any program and a minimum score of 79 on the TOEFL iBT or BAND 6.5 on the IELTS for consideration for a teaching assistantship. Some programs require higher minimum scores (see program-specific requirements). Most programs also accept the Duolingo with a minimum score of 95. The following programs do not accept the Duolingo: Art Education, Biology/Marine Biology, Nursing (MS, DNP, PhD), Psychology: Clinical, and Public Policy. 
  • All official documents are required for enrollment, please have documents (ie. test scores) sent prior to the expiration. 

Program-specific requirements

Candidates must submit the required application materials, university requirements and program-specific requirements, for consideration.

Please submit 2 letters of recommendation. Applicants will be required to provide the recommenders name and email address so we can contact the recommender for the letter of recommendation.

Program deadlines