Program Overview

Natural Language Processing Graduate Certificate

The nine-credit Natural Language Processing (NLP) Graduate Certificate prepares students for work as an NLP engineer who analyzes, identifies, architects, designs, and implements NLP-based systems.

Program Description

This stackable certificate, embedded within the Master of Artificial Intelligence program, helps students master skills essential to this industry role:

• Frame natural language processing problems, such as language translation, chatbots, speech recognition, language models, and more
• Design NLP pipelines to collect and pre-process textual data
• Build and evaluate NLP models based on deep neural networks
• Implement explainable and interpretable NLP models
• Evaluate ethics and fairness in NLP output

Courses

We recommend that students complete the Graduate Certificate in Foundations of Artificial Intelligence prior to starting this program.

• A-I 570 - Deep Learning (Prerequisite: A-I 500 - Quantitative Methods or STAT 500 - Applied Statistics)
• A-I 574 - Natural Language Processing (Prerequisites: STAT 500 and A-I 570)
• A-I 804 - Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

Program Structure

Students can earn this certificate in less than one year or complete it at their 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

Students may earn this certificate by itself, or they can apply the courses toward a Master of Artificial Intelligence if they apply to the master's program and are accepted. This stackable certificate offers students a valuable credential that shows their new expertise as they progress toward their master's degree.

Transfer Credits

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.

Digital Badge

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

Prerequisites and Application

To apply, students must 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 students believe their work experience satisfies the programming requirement, they must include a recommendation letter from a technical colleague describing their coding contributions at work.

Prep Courses

If students have not met these math and programming prerequisite courses, low-cost, non-credit online prep modules are available to provide a strong practical foundation. Based on students' academic experience, program advisors will recommend the most suitable modules for them.