New Types of Institutions 

Certificate programs, for-profit colleges and universities, and various forms of industrial learning centers play a small but growing role in S&E higher education. Programs that award certificates have become an increasingly popular method for students and S&E professionals to learn a particular skill or expand their interest to a related field and to have their knowledge documented. General characteristics of graduate certificate programs are a focus on practical skills (e.g., hazardous waste management and infection control); fewer course requirements than for a master's degree (three to six specific courses); and, typically, an interdisciplinary scope (e.g., environmental ethics). Certificates represent a university's flexibility in a changing environment and an industry's need to upgrade the skills of its workers in emerging and rapidly changing fields. Although they are most commonly offered in health sciences, education, business, and IT, certificate programs are also offered in social sciences, environmental studies, engineering, and other sciences (Patterson 2001).[3]