Evidence-Based Decision Making, Post-Baccalaureate Certificate

Saint Louis University’s Evidence-Based Decision-Making (EBDM) Post-Baccalaureate Certificate prepares professionals to make higher-quality decisions in complex organizational environments where evidence is incomplete, uncertainty is unavoidable, and data, analytics, or AI-generated insights require interpretation rather than blind acceptance.

Rather than treating decision making as a purely technical or data-driven exercise, the program focuses on how decisions are actually made in real organizations and how evidence, judgment and ethical reasoning can be integrated to support decisions that are both defensible and practical.

The evidence-based decision-making certificate is a nine-credit, fully online graduate post-baccalaureate certificate offered through Saint Louis University’s School for Professional Studies. Coursework emphasizes applied learning grounded in authentic organizational decisions, enabling students to immediately transfer what they learn to their professional contexts.

Make Better Decisions in Environments Shaped by Data, AI and Complexity

Data, analytics, and AI tools have dramatically increased access to information, but they have not simplified decision-making. In many professional settings, information is abundant while clarity is scarce. Competing analyses, expert opinions, dashboards, and AI-generated outputs often point in different directions, placing greater demands on human judgment rather than removing it.

In these environments, decision quality depends less on having more data and more on knowing how to evaluate, question and integrate evidence into coherent reasoning, while recognizing uncertainty, trade-offs and ethical implications.

The EBDM certificate is designed for professionals who must make decisions when there is no single “right” answer and no perfect dataset, only better or worse reasoning.

How Professionals Learn to Approach Difficult Decisions

Instead of promising quick answers or overconfidence in data, the evidence-based decision-making certificate equips professionals with practical tools and structured approaches for reasoning through complex decisions and clearly justifying their choices. Students develop the ability to:

• Slow decisions down when appropriate, particularly in complex, uncertain or high-stakes situations
• Recognize when intuition is useful — and when it should be challenged
• Ask sharper, more strategic questions before committing to a course of action
• Evaluate competing claims and sources of evidence without defaulting to authority or analytics alone
• Identify bias, assumptions, and uncertainty in decision processes
• Justify decisions using clear, credible and ethically grounded reasoning

The emphasis is on using judgment, emotion and intuition deliberately and responsibly within an evidence-informed framework.

As part of the School for Professional Studies, this nine-credit, fully online program offers technology-driven professionals like you a flexible option to meet your personal career goals. If you have obtained an undergraduate degree or higher, you may pursue a stand-alone certificate. All courses are offered in eight-week terms through SLU Online, making advanced education more accessible for working professionals. 

Faculty

As a student in the School for Professional Studies at Saint Louis University, you’ll learn from exceptional faculty who are leading experts in their fields. They bring real-world knowledge to the classroom and are dedicated to your professional success. Learn more about the SPS faculty.

You could be halfway to a master’s degree."

Make yourself more marketable by diversifying your expertise and earning a master’s degree. All coursework completed successfully toward a post-baccalaureate certificate may count toward a School for Professional Studies master's degree.

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Careers

The evidence-based decision-making graduate certificate prepares professionals for roles that require evaluating evidence, forming strong arguments, and making well-supported decisions under uncertainty. Because most professionals make decisions, offer recommendations, and weigh competing claims as part of their everyday work, these skills are broadly applicable across:

• leadership and management
• analytics and technology-focused roles
• project and program management
• intelligence and security fields
• organizational strategy and operations

Graduates strengthen their ability to assess information critically, navigate complexity and support decisions that must be ethical, explainable and defensible.

Tuition

Additional charges may apply. Other resources are listed below:

Information on Tuition and Fees

Miscellaneous Fees

Information on Summer Tuition

Scholarships and Financial Aid

For priority consideration for graduate assistantship, apply by Feb. 1.

For more information, visit the Office of Student Financial Services.

1. Graduates will be able to utilize argumentation skills appropriate for a given problem or context.
2. Graduates will be able to apply program-specific knowledge to address practical problems using an ethical, evidence-based framework.

Admission Requirements

• Completed application​
• Undergraduate degree (most successful applicants have an undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 or better)
• Official transcript from a degree-granting institution
• Statement of purpose (about 500 words)
• Resume or curriculum vitae
• External reference recommendations (encouraged but not required)

Upon admission, a new student must successfully complete a virtual meeting with their academic coach to enroll in first-term coursework.

Requirements for International Students

Along with the general admission requirements above, the following must be provided by prospective international students:

• Demonstration of English Language Proficiency. Some examples of demonstrated English language proficiency include minimum score requirements for the following standardized tests:
  • Paper-based TOEFL: 550
  • Internet-based TOEFL: 80
  • IELTS: 6.5
  • PTE: 54
• Academic records, in English translation, for post-secondary studies outside the United States. These must include the courses taken and/or lectures attended, practical laboratory work, the maximum and minimum grades attainable, the grades earned or the results of all end-of-term examinations, and any honors or degrees received. WES and ECE transcripts are accepted.

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Program Requirements 

Continuation Standards

Students must maintain a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.00 in all graduate/professional courses.

This roadmap is just one example of a semester-by-semester plan of study for this program. There are other plans students can and do take. The plan of study for each particular student is established in consultation with each student’s academic advisor; this roadmap does not replace academic advising appointments.

Roadmap notes:

• This Roadmap assumes full-time enrollment unless otherwise noted.
• Courses/Milestones marked with an “!” are critical and must be completed in the semester listed in the Roadmap to ensure a timely graduation.
• Course availability and sequencing are subject to change.

Apply for Admission

For additional admission questions, please call 314-977-2330 or email sps@slu.edu.