Experienced software professionals work in a field that has maintained a relentlessly rapid rate of change for decades, making it impossible to stay current in all aspects of software engineering. Those with limited experience find that the challenges of work assignments exceed their preparation from most undergraduate degree programs. In a typical computer-related undergraduate curriculum, it is not possible to devote enough credit hours specifically to software engineering to address all aspects of engineering complex systems including, for example, design for embedded systems, maintainability, concurrency, and distributed systems.
The professional certificate in software engineering, offered by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Division of Continuing Education, covers the body of knowledge necessary to develop products more predictably and reliably for stand-alone programs as well as for software in more complex environments. The courses required for the professional certificate in software engineering are:
Applicants for the certificate program must have received or currently be enrolled in a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution and have satisfied the prerequisites for each course through class work or work experience. They need not be enrolled in a degree-granting program at CU-Boulder. A grade of B- or better is required for each course applied toward the certificate. For more information, visit ecee.colorado.edu/academics/cert_programs/overview.html.