Non-degree Options

Non-degree Options
Skip to content
Announcement:
CU Denver Celebrates Research Week: April 20 – 24
Graduate Admissions
Admissions
Non-degree: Certificates & Courses
If you’re interested in taking one class or a few individual classes, you will apply as a non-degree seeking student, which means you can register for courses but are not enrolled in an official degree program at the CU Denver.
Reasons Why You Might Choose a Non-degree Option
You need to earn specific prerequisites for a master’s degree or doctoral degree, or for a professional program, such as those in medical school or law school.
You aren’t ready to apply to a degree program, such as a master’s, but want to learn more about that option.
You would like to enhance your work experience and/or increase your earning potential by receiving a certificate that shows your expertise in a particular field.
You want to take individual classes to explore a particular subject.
Course and Certificate Offerings
There are a variety of
courses
you can take at CU Denver. Visit our
Academic Catalog
to view a list of all courses, both
undergraduate
and
graduate
, that are offered in the current academic year. Courses are listed by the department or program that offers them, so you may need to click on a few links to find the right course for you. If a course has a restriction, it means that it is restricted to a specific population, such as current CU Denver degree-seeking students in a particular major. Professionals who want to advance their careers or learn a new skill can also earn a
certificate
from CU Denver. Our
certificate programs
and continuing education classes provide specialized information  and can help you stay current with developments in your field.
Eligibility
Eligibility requirements depend on whether you are applying for a certificate or to a one-off course.
Minimum Education Requirements
You must hold, or expect to hold before enrollment at CU Denver, a U.S. bachelor’s degree or its international equivalent from a college or university of recognized standing.
English Proficiency
If your first language is not English, you must provide proof of English language proficiency (ELP) to be considered for full admission. Some graduate applicants will be considered for conditional admission if they apply without adequate proof of ELP. Please visit the
International Admissions website
for more details.
Minimum Education Requirements
You must hold, or expect to hold before enrollment at CU Denver, a U.S. bachelor’s degree or its international equivalent from a college or university of recognized standing.
You must have a cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 2.0 or higher (A is equal to 4.0) or a GPA of 2.0 or higher in twelve credits or more of a partially completed master’s degree program.
English Proficiency
If your first language is not English, you must provide proof of English language proficiency (ELP) to be considered for full admission. Some graduate applicants will be considered for conditional admission if they apply without adequate proof of ELP.
Please visit the
International Admissions website
for more details.
Non-degree Application Requirements
The Business School and School of Education & Human Development facilitate their own non-degree application process and set their own admission requirements. Please visit their websites for more information. For all other non-degree applicants, please review the following requirements:
Complete and submit
CU Denver’s graduate non-degree application form.
The application fee is:
$50 for domestic students (U.S., citizens, U.S. permanent residents, undocumented immigrants [DACA, etc.] and asylees/refugees)
$75 for international students*
and must be paid by the application deadline. We accept payments via credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, JCB, Discover, and Diners Club) or bank transfer from a U.S. checking account.
The application fee may not be refunded under any circumstance, including withdrawal of the application from admission consideration prior to receiving a decision.
*Graduate students opting to do an ECE or WES evaluation will not be charged the $75 application fee. However, students opting out of the ECE/WES requirement will now need to pay this fee during the application process unless they have an affiliation
with a recruitment agency who is currently in contract with CU Denver. Please see the
International Admissions website
for more information.
Fee Waivers
CU Denver offers application fee waivers in a variety of ways for eligible graduate applicants:
Automatic fee-waivers
The application fee is automatically waived for individuals from the following groups:
CU Denver Alumni (must indicate CU Denver as a school on the Academic History page)
Current CU Denver Student (must indicate CU Denver as a school on the Academic History page
Members of the military, including active duty, reserve and guard forces, or veterans and retirees (must indicate military affiliation on the Personal Information page)
Registered members of a federally recognized American Indian tribe or Alaska Native entity (must indicate tribal affiliation and provide supporting documentation on the Personal Information page).
How to apply for this waiver:
There is no need to apply for an automatic fee waiver. As long as you fall in one of the groups above and provide supporting documentation (if necessary), then your fee will automatically be waived by our system within 24 hours of
submitting your application.
Please be patient and wait for the fee to be waived automatically; we do not issue refunds to applicants who paid the application fee while waiting for a fee waiver decision. You are also welcome to reach out to your program directly to inquire about
the status of your waiver.
Manual Graduate Admission fee waivers
The application fee is reviewed and manually waived by Graduate Admissions personnel in each school/college for individuals from the following groups:
Applicants experiencing financial hardship
Applicants with a disability that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
Applicants who have attended a Central Graduate Admissions/Recruitment event, either on- or off-campus.
Applicants experiencing difficulty submitting payment due to sanctions in their country.
Applicants who are current students, staff, or faculty members at a University of Colorado institution (CU Denver, CU Anschutz, UCCS, CU Boulder).
Applicants who are/were participants (in good standing) of a graduate preparation program, scholar program, service organization, or public service program (must provide documentation).
Applicants who are/were participants (in good standing) of a University of Colorado-affiliated research program (must provide documentation).
How to apply for this waiver
For both
graduate degree-seeking applicants
, and
graduate non-degree/certificate
applicants, please do NOT submit this form unless you have already
submitted your application
; your program application
allows you to submit without making a payment, as you are not prompted to pay until AFTER you submit your program application.
After submitting your application, start the
Graduate Application Fee Waiver Request Form
and under “Reasons for Fee Waiver,” select the option that best applies to you.
For applicants who are/were participants (in good standing) of a graduate preparation program, scholar program, service organization, public service program, or a University of Colorado-affiliated research program, you must complete and upload a signed
Program Participation Verification Form.
Submit the Graduate Application Fee Waiver Request Form.
Upon submitting the form, you will receive a decision on your fee waiver request within 3-5 business days, so please ensure that you are submitting your fee waiver request with enough time to meet your program’s deadline. Please be patient and wait
for a decision on your request; we do not issue refunds to applicants who paid the application fee while waiting for a fee waiver decision.
NOTE:
As we have a limited number of fee waivers to grant,
not all requests are approved
. If your fee waiver request is denied, you will be instructed to pay the application fee. Application fee waiver decisions are final,
and do not affect your likelihood of admission into a graduate program.
You must list and provide your unofficial transcript for every post-secondary institution where you were enrolled—or are currently enrolled—in an undergraduate or graduate degree program. Even if you did not earn a degree from that institution,
a transcript is still required.
CU Denver considers unofficial transcripts to be sufficient for the review process. Upload transcripts as scanned copies or PDFs (no larger than 10 MB) when submitting the online application. Please refrain from uploading a secured PDF/transcript
with a digital signature, as our system cannot upload these properly.
If you earned a degree at the institution from which you are submitting a transcript, please ensure that the degree that was conferred and the degree conferral date are clearly visible on the document. If your transcript does not include your degree
conferred and your degree conferral date, please submit a scanned copy of your diploma, a conferral statement, or a conferral document in addition to your transcript. Combine this documentation and the transcript into a single PDF. If you are
currently enrolled in a degree program and will not have earned the degree by the time you submit your application, submit your most recent in-progress transcript.
If you are offered admission to CU Denver and accept the offer, you will be required to submit official transcripts/degree conferral documents during your first term as a student. If you do not submit your official transcripts, an enrollment hold
will be placed on your account and you will be unable to enroll in future terms.
Unofficial vs. Official Transcripts
Unofficial transcripts
are copies or downloads of official transcripts that are easily accessible to the student, such as a scanned copy of a printed official transcript, screenshot of an electronic official transcript saved as a
PDF, or PDF copies downloaded via a self-service from a student or alumni portal. Unofficial transcripts generally have no associated cost.
At CU Denver, unofficial transcripts are sufficient for application review purposes.
Official transcripts
are transcripts that come directly from the issuing school, institution, or agency. Printed/hard copies of transcripts must remain in a sealed envelope from the issuing school; transcripts that are removed from
their sealed envelope are not considered official. Electronic copies of official transcripts are typically sent directly from the institution, or via a clearinghouse that the institution uses, with a passcode for the recipient to open in a secure
manner; transcripts forwarded to CU Denver as an email are not considered official.
At CU Denver, official transcripts are only required if you are offered admission and decide to enroll.
Study Abroad
If the transcript from your home institution reflects your study abroad coursework and grades, you do not need to submit original transcripts from your abroad institution.
Foreign Institutions
An International Credential Evaluation Report is required for any applicant who attended one or more academic institution(s) located outside the United States. All international credentials from academic institution(s) located outside the United States
will need to be verified for authenticity and evaluated by CU Denver or an external evaluation provider (ECE or WES). Please visit the
International Admissions website
for details.
There are a variety of ways for you to provide proof of English proficiency if your first language is not English. View these methods on the
International Admissions website
How to Apply
Determine whether you should submit a graduate or undergraduate non-degree application. Our non-degree application depends on your highest-earned degree, not the level of the course you wish to take:
If you
have a bachelor’s degree
, then you must submit a
graduate non-degree application
, even if you are taking an undergraduate-level course.
If you
do not have a bachelor’s degree
, you must submit an
undergraduate non-degree application
, even if you are taking a graduate-level course. Only under rare circumstances can an individual with no bachelor’s degree pursue a graduate-level non-degree option.
For all CU Denver non-degree options—excluding the Business School and School of Education & Human Development—
select Denver non-degree
Find your non-degree option and complete the rest of the application, including the Tuition Classification Form, which will ensure you are classified properly as either
Resident or Non-Resident
for tuition purposes.
Submit your application.
Application Deadlines
Your application deadline depends on whether you are applying for a certificate or to a one-off course.
Since Certificates are offered by schools and colleges, they will have their own unique deadlines (similar to a degree program). Reach out to the
school/college
that houses your certificate for information about the deadline.
Continuing and Professional Education (CPE) certificates
Similarly, certificates administered through
Continuing and Professional Education (CPE)
have their own deadlines. Reach out to the
school/college
that houses your CPE certificate for information about the deadline.
If you are applying to take a course in our
Business School
, the deadlines are as follows:
Term
Applications Open
Applications Close
Term begins
Fall 2025
August 1, 2024
August 1, 2025
August 18, 2025
Spring 2026
March 15, 2025
January 1, 2026
January 20, 2026
Summer 2026
March 15, 2025
June 1, 2026
June 8, 2026
Please visit the Business School’s
Graduate Non-Degree Classes
website for more information. Questions can be directed to
[email protected]
If you are applying to take a course in our
School of Education & Human Development (SEHD)
, the deadlines are as follows:
Term
Applications Open
Applications Close
Term begins
Fall 2025
August 1, 2024
June 30, 2025
August 18, 2025
Spring 2026
July 1, 2025
November 1, 2025
January 20, 2026
Summer 2026
August 1, 2025
April 1, 2026
June 8, 2026
Questions can be directed to
[email protected]
For all other courses in Public Affairs, Liberal Arts & Sciences, Arts & Media, Architecture, and Engineering, Design & Computing, the deadlines are as follows:
Term
Applications Open
Applications Close
Term begins
Fall 2025
August 1, 2024
August 7, 2025
August 18, 2025
Spring 2026
March 15, 2025
January 8, 2026
January 20, 2026
Summer 2026
March 15, 2025
May 28, 2026
June 8, 2026
Questions can be directed to
[email protected]
Next Steps
*The
Business School
and
School of Education & Human Development
facilitate their own non-degree application process, review, and decision release schedule. Please visit their websites for more information. For all other non-degree applicants, please review the following next steps:
After you submit your non-degree application, including uploading all required materials, you can expect your application to be processed and a decision to be turned around within two to three weeks.
If you are accepted, you will receive an email to the address you provided that prompts you to view the update to your application status and accept your offer.
Once you have accepted your offer, our system requires 24 hours to update and record your matriculation. Weekend times may vary.
After the system has successfully processed your matriculation, you will receive an email titled, “Enroll for Courses." with details on how to set up your new student account and register for classes.
Visit our
Academic Calendar
, take note of our registration deadlines, and be sure to register for your courses by the deadline.
It is possible to apply to a course that begins many months from when you first submitted your application. In this interim period, you may not hear from the Office of Admissions after receiving your “Enroll for Courses” email, or from the instructor until closer to the start of the course. Rest assured that you are still active in our system and know that you can always reach out with any questions.
FAQs
Classes can be offered in-person, online, or both. Please view our
Academic Catalog
for course listings, and our
CU Denver Program Finder
for certificate options.
The only credential, endorsement, and license options offered at CU Denver are housed in our
School of Education & Human Development (SEHD)
. Please visit the SEHD website for more information.
First, identify the program you would like to apply to and make sure you meet their admission requirements. Then, you must complete a new application, this time as a graduate degree-seeking student. If you have already submitted official transcripts as part of your application to your non-degree course or certificate, you will not need to submit them if you are admitted to your degree program. However, if you submitted only unofficial transcripts for your non-degree application, you will be expected to send official transcripts to CU Denver from every institution where you were a student. Please visit our
How to Apply
page for more details.
Non-degree students are not eligible for financial aid, student loans, scholarships, or tuition assistance.
Tuition is charged by credit hours, so the
cost
of your graduate course or certificate will depend on:
How many credit hours it is,
If you are taking the course
fully online
, and
Whether you are classified as a Colorado state resident (or if you are a resident of a
WICHE
state and your certificate participates in the
Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP)
Tuition rates are determined by each school and college, and are approved annually by the Colorado Board of Regents. In addition to tuition costs, you should factor in any relevant fees.
Residency status will be determined during the application process. It is important to complete all dates and information requested on the Tuition Classification Form to ensure you are classified properly as either a resident or non-resident for tuition purposes. For more information about residency, please visit the
Registrar website
The only difference is that there are limits on when you can register for class. Employees may register seven calendar days prior to the first day of the semester or the first day of class, whichever is earlier. This applies to both undergraduate and graduate courses. Registering prior to the designated times will deem you ineligible for the pre-registered course(s) for that semester. Please refer to the
Employee Services website
for more information.
Questions?
First, check the status of your application by
logging back into your account.
. The list below provides contact information for departments or individuals who can address specific questions. Please make sure you include your full name and applicant ID
in all communications.
Contact the
Business School (BUS)
with questions if you are applying to a BUS course or certificate.
Contact the
School of Education & Human Development (SEHD)
if you are applying to a SEHD course or certificate.
For all other courses or certificates, contact the
Office of Admissions
with non-degree questions related to:
A technical issue with your application
Questions about the status of your non-degree application
Residency status
Contact
International Admissions
with non-degree questions related to:
The English Proficiency Requirement
Document Retention
All credentials submitted as application materials become the property of CU Denver. We will not return any academic documents submitted to CU Denver as part of an application or after admission.
CU Denver
CU Denver
Student Commons Building
1201 Larimer Street
Denver,
CO
80204
(303) 315-5969
Resources
Admissions
Campus Safety
Degrees & Programs
Events Calendar
News
Around Campus
Campus Resources
Housing & Dining
Location & Maps
Transportation & Parking
Visit CU Denver
Info For
Alumni
Current Students
Faculty/Staff
Families
Media & Press
CMS Login
Apply Now
Visit Campus
Opens in a new window
Opens document in a new window