The Department of Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies offers a Graduate Certificate Program that can support and enrich students' intellectual lives at Rutgers, as well as providing a helpful credential for the job market. The Certificate Program enables students enrolled in Rutgers Ph.D. programs to acquire an additional specialization in Women's & Gender Studies. It prepares students to conduct research in women's and gender studies, to develop and teach courses with a focus on gender and sexuality, and to expand the scope of their professional activity to include the fields of gender and sexuality studies.

Three courses are required to earn the Certificate in Women's & Gender Studies. Two are chosen from the Women's & Gender Studies core curriculum (these would count as the two out-of-department courses that students in English are permitted to take as part of their credits toward the Ph.D.). The English Department mandates that the third course must be a course offered through the English Department. The third course selected must also be preapproved by Women’s & Gender Studies.