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Community is your calling. You’ve established your passion for service with work experience, and now you're ready to further your leadership skills. The 100% online graduate certificate in administration and management of family and community services from the University of Missouri (Mizzou) will give you the skills you need to fulfill your dream. Learn to manage and evaluate programs for individuals and families, and provide leadership for social service agencies or other community organizations.
If you already work with children, youth, adults and families, this certificate may be a perfect fit. It’s a unique opportunity to join a network of peers and develop hands-on skills in challenging courses taught by award-winning faculty — while working full time. Earn your certificate with 12 credit hours in topics related directly to your community-centered work.
An outstanding credential
Apply your credentials to advance in your current field or further your graduate education. Mizzou also offers a 100% online master of arts in human development and family science with an emphasis in family and community services. As part of the Great Plains IDEA consortium, these online programs allow students to enroll in courses offered by family and community services experts throughout the region. With additional courses, graduates may also qualify to become a Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) through the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR).
Quick facts
Official name
Graduate certificate in administration and management of family and community servicesCampus
Program type
Graduate certificateAcademic home
College of Education & Human Development | Department of Human Development and Family ScienceDelivery mode
100% onlineAccreditation
Higher Learning CommissionCredit hours
12Estimated cost
$7,200.00*This cost is for illustrative purposes only. Your hours and costs will differ, depending on your transfer hours, your course choices and your academic progress. See more about tuition and financial aid.
Career prospects
- Social or community service manager
- County Extension office administrator
- Military community services manager
- Crisis shelter manager
- Health educator
- Community health administrator
Program structure
Graduate certificate in administration and management of family and community services is 100% online: no campus visits are required.
Courses are semester-based and offered by multiple universities taking part in the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance. Depending on which university is teaching your course that semester, your courses may have different start and finish dates.
Students typically take one or two classes each semester and finish in one year.
Course work includes
- Grant development and management
- Program management and administration
- Program design, implementation and evaluation
- Electives on family dynamics, intervention and resilience
Delivery
100% onlineCalendar system
Semester-basedTypical program length
1 yearTypical course load
1 or 2 classes each semesterGreat Plains IDEA
Great Plains IDEA is a consortium of 19 universities offering fully online graduate programs and courses in agriculture and human sciences disciplines. Students apply to and are admitted by one university, enroll in all of their courses through that university and graduate from that university. However, the online courses are taught by faculty in the discipline from several universities. Benefits include an affordable common price, flexible online structure, and learning from faculty and networking with students across the country.
Learn more about Great Plains IDEA:
Accreditation
University of Missouri-Columbia is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, one of six regional institutional accreditors in the United States.
Faculty spotlight
Ashlie Lester earned her doctorate in human development and family studies from the University of Missouri in 2013 and her Master of Science in marriage and family therapy from Kansas State University. Her research focuses on the scholarship of teaching and learning. Dr. Lester won the Writing Intensive Teaching Excellence Award in 2022, the College of Human Environmental Sciences Distinguished Teaching Award in 2018, and the Great Plains IDEA Teaching Excellence Award in 2017. She has authored articles and chapters on family and religion.
She is always interested in talking to others about HDFS graduate programs, so reach out if you have any questions.
Robin Peiter Horstmeier earned her doctorate from Oklahoma State University in 2002. Her research focuses on youth-adult partnerships, agricultural education, youth roles in community partnerships and administration of youth organizations. In addition to working for the University of Missouri, Dr. Horstmeier is owner and chief executive officer of Horstmeier Consulting and has published several scholarly articles on youth organization and agricultural education.