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Cannabis control compliance officer at work in a cannabis dispensary

Graduate Certificate in Cannabis Control

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Prepare to Take the Lead in a Rapidly Growing New Industry

Cannabis is estimated to become a multibillion-dollar industry by 2025. As more states move toward both medical and adult-use cannabis legalization, organizations in public and private sectors will require a deeper understanding of the newly emerging and consistently changing regulatory environment.

Excelsior College’s Graduate Certificate in Cannabis Control will educate you on the opportunities, challenges, and complexities of the cannabis industry and its accompanying regulations. You will learn to develop your critical thinking skills and deepen your knowledge base to understand the impact of cannabis legalization in our communities, states, and nation as a whole, enabling you to keep pace in this fast-changing environment.

The unique interdisciplinary approach prepares you to converse with policymakers, industry leaders, proprietors, and other stakeholders across the many professions that the cannabis industry touches.

A bachelor’s degree is required for admission to this graduate certificate program.

For more information on the program, and on cannabis career information and facts, view our Graduate Certificate in Cannabis Control program guide.

There is no application fee for cannabis program applicants.

Fast Facts:

Our program keeps ahead of rapid industry changes with guidance from the market leaders and entrepreneurs on our Cannabis Industrial Advisory Council

Cannabis is the fastest-growing industry in the U.S. job market (Source: Markets Insider)

Compliance managers’ average salary is $62,500 with a range from $45K to $149K (Cannabis Industry Salary Guide 2018: Vangst)

Talk to an admissions counselor about your goals and transfer credits.

888.647.2388

Email us at gradadmissions@excelsior.edu

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credit hours

Cannabis Control Certificate Program Details

Excelsior College’s Graduate Certificate in Cannabis Control is a fully online program of three graduate interdisciplinary courses focusing on policy, risk assessment, and commerce. The certificate can be earned in as few as six months and is an excellent way for students who have earned a business, health sciences, criminal justice, or public administration degree to add a specialization.

In this course, students will be faced with the impact of legalization on various institutions, organizations, and individuals, including safety, testing/regulation, marketing, dilemmas between policy and legal regimes they live in, and budgetary implications.

Students will study existing cannabis tax schemes, assess their impacts on businesses and effectiveness in meeting individual cannabis program goals, and suggest improvements, as well as develop strategies for businesses and governments to plan for and meet shifting tax burdens. Additionally, students will analyze economic, legal, and public health implications of traceability and transport of cannabis and cannabis industry supporting products.

Students will learn about risk assessment in cannabis control and gain skills necessary to evaluate risks in the field related to: cultivation, harvesting, genetic testing, containment, water supply, pests, cybersecurity, grants, product safety labeling, and workplace testing/safety. In this course, the students will discuss harm reduction strategies when moving from an unregulated to a regulated market. They will also learn to conduct risk assessments in their communities.

  • Excelsior College has more than two decades of experience in online education and has been providing educational opportunity to adult learners since 1971. Business, criminal justice, health sciences, and public administration are among our degree programs.
  • Cannabis control program taught by industry expert faculty and designed around uniquely career focused compliance and regulatory framework.
  • Longest-running distance education provider in the United States with nearly two decades of experience in online education helping students earn their degrees.
  • Supporting a strong mission focused on social equity and diversity, we have the resources and dedicated staff to help you succeed
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Common Careers with an
Cannabis Control Certificate

  • Cannabis Certification and Testing Officer
  • Risk Management Officer
  • Cannabis Plant Life Cycle Production and Propagation Specialist
  • Public Relations Strategist
  • Packaging Coordinator
  • Public Relations Strategist

Excelsior Provides Resources To Make Your Degree Flexible And Affordable

Lauren Harlow
AS in Liberal Arts, 2017

“Excelsior gave me skills in critical analysis, writing, problem solving, and communicating, which all helped me perform my job well.”

Recognitions & Accreditations

Middle States Commission on Higher Education logo

Institutional Accreditation

Excelsior College is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, 1007 North Orange Street, 4th Floor, MB #166, Wilmington, DE 19801 (267-284-5011) www.msche.org. The MSCHE is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).

Phase: Accredited
Status: Accreditation Reaffirmed
Accreditation Granted: 1977
Last Reaffirmation: 2017
Next Self-Study Evaluation: 2021-2022

All of Excelsior College’s academic programs are registered (i.e., approved) by the New York State Education Department.