Degree Plus
Earn a professional micro-credential and gain applied internship experience alongside your UCLA degree—at no additional cost.
Application deadline
Priority deadline: October 15th, 2026
Final deadline: November 16th, 2026
Internship Recruiting Begins: Fall 26
Credential Courses Begin: Winter 26
Questions? DegreePlus@ucla.edu
A head start on your career, built into your time at UCLA.
Enhance your job prospects by integrating an internship with a skills-based professional micro-credential at no cost to you! Take your education to the next level with high-demand skills and land your dream job.
No cost to you.
Earn a specialized professional micro-credential for free, and take on a paid or subsidized internship that can stand in for a summer job or work-study role.
Internship experience.
Complete an internship that provides you with real-world transferable skills and hands-on professional experience.
A micro-credential that proves it.
Earn an employer-recognized UCLA professional micro-credential that signals you have the professional and industry specific skills needed.
Stand out professionally.
Build in-demand skills, from leadership to AI fluency, that set you apart before you even graduate.
Earn a professional micro-credential from UCLA Extension.
Take three courses to build an employer-recognized professional micro-credential in high-demand skills, then apply what you learn in an industry related internship. It runs alongside your regular coursework and is built to fit a full Bruin schedule.
Note: Degree Plus courses are additional to your degree. They do not count toward your UCLA degree requirements.
Build a specialized micro-credential around where you’re headed.
Choose your industry pathway and build a specialized micro-credential combining two core skills with industry-specific expertise. Below are examples of courses that may be offered.
Healthcare Pathway
Leadership/Management (choose one)
- Fundamentals of Project Management (MGMT X 444.1) – Gain the skills to manage your daily projects efficiently with foundational frameworks, tools, and techniques for achieving optimal outcomes.
- OR Leadership Communication Strategies (MGMT X 490.996) – Improve communcation and interpersonal skills for leadership roles, covering listening, conflict management, and addressing hidden agendas.
Technology/AI (choose one)
- AI Essential Components (MGMT X 413.1) – Comprehensive intro to core AI components covering hardware, software, networks, and databases for leveraging AI across industries.
- OR AI Safety Policy and Ethics (MGMT X 413.2) – Navigate AI responsibly by exploring ethical implications, algorithmic bias, fairness, privacy, and policy challenges in healthcare, finance, and criminal justice.
Industry Specialization
- Fundamentals of the U.S. Healthcare System
Entertainment Pathway
Leadership/Management
- Fundamentals of Project Management (MGMT X 444.1) – Comprehensive understanding of foundational frameworks and essential tools for achieving optimal project outcomes.
Creative AI Skill (choose one)
- AI Essential Components (MGMT X 413.1) – Foundation for innovation with technical and strategic knowledge to leverage AI effectively across industries.
- OR AI Toolsets and Workflows for Creative Production (FILM TV X 478.6) – Build production-ready systems for creatives, connecting text, image, video, and audio generation into modular workflows. Culminates in an original 30-60 second short film.
Industry Specialization
- The Business of Entertainment (MGMT X 403.31) – Examine current business and production issues, financing, contracts, IP, worldwide distribution models, and emerging opportunities across entertainment sectors.
Tech Pathway
Leadership/Management (choose one)
- Fundamentals of Project Management (MGMT X 444.1) – Foundational framework and essential tools for achieving optimal project outcomes.
- OR Fundamentals of Business Administration & Management (MGMT X 497.613) – Learn how to properly structure, systematize, and manage a business of any size, service, or product.
Creative AI Skill (choose one)
- AI Essential Components (MGMT X 413.1) – Technical and strategic knowledge for understanding and leveraging AI across industries.
- OR AI Governance, Risk, Policy and Ethics (MGMT X 413.2) – Navigate the world of AI responsibility and with confidence. This course introduces students to the ethical, safety, and policy challenges surrounding the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in society.
Industry Specialization
- AI for Product Management (MGMT X 413.3) – Learn to integrate AI into the product lifecycle, including model selection, data sourcing, prompt design, cross-functional team management, and navigating security and scalability challenges.
Turn what you learn into real work.
Degree Plus is built to end in experience that counts. Alongside your coursework, you step into an internship with our career team supporting you the whole way. Placements can span startups and established companies, nonprofits, schools, and government agencies, and can include on-campus roles or international opportunities.
How it works
Here is how it works: we help you find, prepare for, and land an internship, but the placement is not automatic. You do the applying and interviewing, and we bring the coaching, connections, and preparation to make it count.
1
Apply
Tell us about yourself and your goals. It takes about 15 minutes.
2
Build your credential
Complete two skill courses plus one industry course over about three quarters, built to fit around your degree.
3
Land an internship
Work with our career team to find and prepare for an internship where you put your new skills to work.
4
Graduate career-ready
Leave UCLA with a credential, real experience, and a network ready for what comes next.
Who can join.
- Current UCLA undergraduate.
- In good academic standing.
- Legally authorized to work in the U.S. F-1 international students, check with our team at DegreePlus@ucla.edu about current requirements.
What it takes.
- Plan for up to 10 hours a week on lectures, readings, assignments, and group projects.
- Take part in online discussions, communicate with instructors, and collaborate well with your group.
- Attend monthly in-person internship and career development sessions.
- Complete program and grant evaluation activities. This may include surveys, focus groups or interviews if invited, internship documentation, and the use of select, de-identified student data (such as demographic, enrollment, and outcomes data). Anything shared with evaluation partners is de-identified to protect your privacy.
- Stay in good academic standing in both your degree program and your certificate courses.
- Take an active role in landing your internship, from finding opportunities and networking to refining your resume, cover letter, and interview skills.
FAQs
No. Degree Plus courses are in addition to your degree and do not fulfill degree requirements. They build a separate, employer-recognized micro-credential.
Nothing for enrolled students. The program is fully funded.
About [10] hours a week over roughly three quarters, designed to fit alongside a full course load.
No. We support you in finding and preparing for an internship, but you apply and interview for it yourself.
Current UCLA undergraduates, excluding seniors in their third quarter, in good academic standing who are authorized to work in the U.S.
A UCLA professional micro-credential built from two skill courses and one industry course through UCLA Extension.