Most UCLA Extension certificate and specialization programs are open to enrollment, allowing you to begin your studies at any time of the year. To officially join a program and become a student, you must apply for candidacy.
What is candidacy?
Candidacy is the term for being officially enrolled in a certificate or specialization program. Applying for candidacy establishes your program of study and unlocks various benefits.
Once you join a certificate or specialization program, you have 5 years to complete the program. Please refer to our course and certificate shelf-life policies for more information.
How to apply for candidacy (with screenshots):
- Navigate to the webpage for the certificate or specialization program you are interested in. Click here for our list of certificate and specialization programs.
- Click on the "Get Started" section of the page and click the "Apply Now" button.
- Read all the instructions, and click on ‘Apply Now’
- You will be asked to sign in to your student account. If you are a new student, you will need to make a new account.
- Once logged in, you will see the ‘My Applications’ page. Here, click on the ‘Start’ button
- Click on the steps listed under ‘Pages: To Do’ or ‘Start’
- Click on ‘submit application’ when done. You can also ‘save and finish later’. If you finish later, please click ‘submit application’ when done.
- A nominal fee* is attached to our certificate and specialization programs. In the next step, you will be prompted to pay this fee. Click on ‘click here to checkout’ to pay this fee*.
- On the payment page, confirm your demographic information is updated, or click on ‘view my profile or make changes’ to update it.
- Proceed to enter your payment information, accept the terms and conditions, and click on ‘continue checkout’.
- Complete and submit your candidacy application, along with the nominal candidacy fee*.
After You Apply
UCLA Extension staff will review your application and contact you with the next steps. This review process typically takes 7 to 14 business days, though the timeline may vary depending on the program.
To learn more about the advantages of joining a program, explore all the benefits of our certificates and specializations here: Certificates and Specializations Benefits.
Enrollment in admissions-based Programs
While most of our programs are open to enrollment, some have enrollment restrictions and requirements. For these programs, you will be prompted to go through the application process when you click on the ‘Apply Now’ button on he certificate or specialization webpage.
Certificates and Specializations with special admissions requirements typically require a few weeks of review and processing. These processing times vary by program. To find out more about a program’s application processing time, you will need to check the webpage for that certificate or specialization program.
You cannot be added to a certificate or specialization until you have received confirmation of enrollment from UCLA Extension staff.
*Candidacy and other application fees may be nontransferable and are nonrefundable.