Starting in the fall 2026 semester, the Bowling Green State University (BGSU) School of Media and Communication (SMC) will offer a Social Media Content Creator Certificate to those who complete a certain number of media-related courses.

To earn the certificate, students will have to take:

• MDIA 2500: Media Production for Non-Majors or MDIA 1995: Fundamentals of Non-Linear Editing
• MDIA 3520: Social Media & Society
• MDIA 4640: Social Media Campaigns or ESHP 1010: The Entrepreneurial Journey or ESHP 4950: The Hatch
• ADV 4630: Content & Platform Strategies.

Louisa Ha, an SMC professor, said that she and others who created this certificate wanted to make sure it covered a variety of social media-related skills.

“We formed a committee of the Content Creator Certificate with faculty teaching social media and production classes,” said Ha. “In the committee, we decided to pick four classes that cover video production skills, social media and society knowledge, content strategies and platform distribution courses and offer different career tracks for students.”

Ha also said that undergraduate certificates like these were something encouraged by the university for schools and departments to implement into their programs.

“I heard about the university encouraging development of undergraduate certificate, and only up to four classes is required,” said Ha. “Such certificates allow double dipping of major or minor classes, and I always know students would like to show their social media knowledge to employers.”

According to Ha, this certificate is especially unique, as it is the only one offered by a school like SMC.

“As far as I know, our certificate is the only undergraduate certificate for social media content creation that is offered from a school of media and communication, and we offer the classes in person and online,” said Ha. “Other university certificates are all online only and offered by the college of business.”

Ha said she thinks earning this certificate will help students succeed in their future careers, regardless of the path they take.

“I think students who earn this certificate will be very marketable on top of their own major,” said Ha. “Knowing how to use social media professionally is an essential skill to have nowadays as almost all major companies own their own social media accounts and need people to create content and manage them.”

The classes required to earn this certificate require no prerequisites and are open to students of any major.

For more information on BGSU’s School of Media and Communication, visit https://www.bgsu.edu/arts-and-sciences/media-and-communication.html.