The 12-credit Graduate Certificate in Foundations of Artificial Intelligence prepares you for work as an AI engineer who analyzes, identifies, architects, designs, and implements AI systems using various techniques. 

This stackable certificate, embedded within the Master of AI program, helps you master the following skills essential to an AI engineering role: 

  • Understand how AI works, from intelligent agents to reinforcement learning and more
  • Identify problems and develop proofs of concept for AI solutions
  • Use Python to analyze and visualize complex data sets
  • Build and train machine learning models on large data sets to perform tasks such as classification, forecasting, object detection, automation, and self-adaptation
  • Design solutions based on machine learning, computer vision, natural language understanding, search and planning, agent systems, and reinforcement and deep learning techniques
  • Identify ethical concerns and establish standards and parameters to provide accountability for AI systems to function fairly and ethically

This certificate can prepare you for roles such as: 

  • AI engineer
  • AI researcher
  • Data scientist
  • Data analyst

Courses

You can earn this certificate in less than one year or complete it at your own pace. All courses must be completed with a minimum grade of C or better and an overall GPA of 3.0.

Stackable Certificate or Stand-alone Credential

You may earn this certificate by itself, or you can apply the courses toward a Master of Artificial Intelligence if you apply to the master's program (no additional application fee) and are accepted. This stackable certificate offers you a valuable credential that shows your new expertise as you progress toward your master's degree. 

Up to 15 credits earned in any of the AI graduate certificate programs may be transferred to the Master of Artificial Intelligence, subject to restrictions outlined in GCAC-309 Transfer Credit.

Once you earn your certificate, you will receive a digital badge that you can display to recognize your professional growth. After successfully completing the required coursework, please submit the Graduate Certificate Completion Form. 

Prerequisites and How to Apply

Please follow the Graduate Certificate Application Instructions to apply, and complete the prerequisite math and programming coursework: 

  • Calculus I (equivalent to Penn State's MATH 140)
  • One semester of probability or statistics
  • One semester of linear algebra
  • Two introductory-level programming courses, both in the same language. If you believe your work experience satisfies the programming requirement, please include a recommendation letter from a technical colleague describing your coding contributions at work.

Bridge Courses

If you have not met these math and programming prerequisite courses, a program representative may recommend that you take Penn State Great Valley's low-cost, non-credit bridge courses in these subjects to prepare you to complete the program successfully.   

Talk with a Program Representative

If you have any questions about this certificate and how it could support your career goals, schedule an appointment with a program representative.

Erica Dercole headshot

Erica Dercole 
Enrollment Services Specialist
Email: [email protected]
Schedule a Call with Erica

If you are a current student, please email any advising questions to [email protected]