Certificate in Prevention and Intervention Science

The doctoral minor and graduate/professional certificate have three special features:

1. Training emphasizes programmatic efforts that seek to prevent the development of problematic outcomes and to promote optimal functioning in individuals or groups across the life course.
2. Preventive interventions are implemented and evaluated in family, school, and community contextstheir outcome is investigated in interaction within these contexts.
3. Training emphasizes methodological and statistical training and their applications in prevention research. Particular attention is given to the concentrations of interventions in social services, health, and education; family and community studies; social policy; and methodology.

This multidisciplinary program addresses contemporary health and social issues facing at-risk and vulnerable groups across the life course. Participating units are Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education; Educational Psychology; Human Development and Family Studies; Nursing; Population Health Sciences; and Social Work. Training leads to a doctoral minor (Option A) or a graduate/professional certificate in prevention and intervention science.

1. Students will identify, explain, and demonstrate the core foundational concepts within prevention science and compare and contrast with other closely related professional domains.
2. Students will define, explain, and demonstrate how the concepts of risk, promotive, and protective factors are associated with different positive and negative outcomes and how theories related to human behavior and development describe the processes and mechanisms through which risk, promotive, and protective factors are related to positive and negative outcomes.
3. Students will explain and demonstrate prevention/intervention development principles and how to engage relevant stakeholders in the development, adaptation, and implementation of prevention/intervention programs.
4. Students will identify appropriate research design principles and various statistical methods associated with prevention science research.

A bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution or a comparable degree from an international institution is required. International applicants must have a degree comparable to a regionally accredited U.S. bachelor’s degree. You must have completed your undergraduate degree, or similar, before starting graduate school.

A minimum undergraduate grade-point average (GPA) of 3.00 on the equivalent of the last 60 semester hours (approximately two years of work) or a master’s degree with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 is required. Applicants from an international institution must demonstrate strong academic achievement comparable to a 3.00 for an undergraduate or master’s degree. The Graduate School will use your institution’s grading scale. Do not convert your grades to a 4.00 scale.

Every applicant whose native language is not English, or whose undergraduate instruction was not in English, must provide an English proficiency test score. TOEFL scores must be submitted electronically via ETS. IELTS scores can be submitted electronically or by paper.  Our office address is: UW-Madison Graduate School, Office of Admissions, 232 Bascom Hall, 500 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706.  Your score will not be accepted if it is more than two years old from the start of your admission term. Country of citizenship does not exempt applicants from this requirement. Language of instruction at the college or university level and how recent the language instruction was taken are the determining factors in meeting this requirement.

Applicants are exempt if: