The application window for the 2024–2025 academic year is closed. If you have questions about the UW Certified Professional Coach Program, or if you wish to be placed on our Priority List for the 2025-26 academic year, please contact Michelle Galarowicz, the Learning Experience Coordinator.
Why you should consider the UW Certified Professional Coach Program
We are in business to develop masterful coaches, grounded in the International Coaching Federation (ICF) core competencies, who are rising to create powerful change.
Our reputation
Learn at the only major, research-based university in the Midwest that has an ICF-Level 2 accredited program. We are also one of only a handful of university-based ICF-Level 2 accredited programs nationwide.
Our community
Our cohort model allows learners to build deep relationships with peers in a tight-knit learning community.
Our exceptional instructional team
Learn from expert instructors and mentors who are ICF-credentialed and hold Professional Certified Coach (PCC) or Master Certified Coach (MCC) designations.
Our competency-based curriculum
Grounded in the ICF core competencies, learners are prepared to coach in all areas, including but not limited to leadership, executive, diversity and inclusion, health/wellness, relationships and careers. Our broad, competency-based curriculum draws from the research in and about reflective inquiry, diversity and inclusion, emotional intelligence, cultural competence, evidence-based coaching, positive psychology, mindfulness and neuroscience.
Our high professional standards
Our students set the bar for quality and excellence. Students who complete our program are prepared to apply (and succeed!) to become an ICF-credentialed Associate Certified Coach (ACC) and/or Professional Certified Coach (PCC).
Additionally, our graduates, are highly successful and go on to use their coaching skills and knowledge to create and advance coaching cultures within organizations, establish private coaching practices, spearhead coaching-based service projects and add processional coaching to therapeutic or clinical counseling settings.
Our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging
Learners will be encouraged to participate in our commitment to advancing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging within the professional world of coaching, within the workplace and within the everyday lives of our cohort members and instructional team. Our values align with the University of Wisconsin, believing that diversity is a source of strength, creativity and innovation.
Welcome
Welcome to the UW–Madison Certified Professional Coach program from Chariti Gent, Director of Professional Coach Education!
We are so glad you are here! Over the last decade, the coaching profession has grown by leaps and bounds. As a leader in the education and certification of professional coaches worldwide, we are proud of the part we’ve played — and continue to play — in facilitating that growth. If you are considering certification as a professional coach, or merely want to add to the toolkit you already have in place, our program can help. Please take your time as you browse through all of the information about our offerings, and don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions. Thanks — and Go Badger Coaches!
Learn more about Chariti and the rest of the UWCPC team.
Read about one student’s “transformational learning experience” with UWCPC.
ICF accreditation
The International Coaching Federation’s Level 2 accreditation is for at least 125 contact learning hours and is designated as PCC Accredited Education. Graduates from a Level 2 education and training program may apply for the Associate Certified Coach (ACC) Credential and/or the Professional Certified Coach (PCC) Credential using the Level 2 application path if they meet the ICF’s credentialing requirements.
SHRM accreditation
The UW Certified Professional Coach (UWCPC) program is approved for Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) professional development credits. Individuals who are members of SHRM and enroll in and complete the 2024–25 UWCPC program are eligible to claim 125 credits toward their SHRM recertification.
MSPE credits
The UW–Madison School of Education Department of Education Psychology and the UW Certified Professional Coach Program (UWCPC) have joined forces in a new partnership. UWCPC alumni can apply their coaching education toward a master’s degree in educational psychology. Students must pass the Credit by Departmental Exam within the Educational Psychology department to earn 3 graduate credits for the Foundations of Instructional Coaching course within the Master of Science for Professional Educators (MSPE) degree program.
To learn more visit the MSPE website or contact MSPE Program Director Lisa Hebgen at lmhebgen@wisc.edu.