By Leah Belsky, Chief Enterprise Officer, Coursera
Students entering today’s competitive job market need flexible pathways to a college degree and opportunities to learn career-specific skills. Today, we’re proud to announce two new initiatives to help broaden access to job-relevant learning for students of all backgrounds.
Free certificates for any U.S. community college and CTE high school
Starting today, Google’s Professional Certificates on Coursera are available to US community colleges and Career and Technical Education (CTE) high schools for free. Institutions that sign up can offer industry-relevant skills training to their students. With the Google certificates, students can prepare for a range of well-paying roles, including data analytics, project management, UX design, or IT support.
In addition to receiving career services to help in their job search, participating students will be able to apply for open jobs from over 150 employers who are currently hiring, including Walmart, Verizon, and Google. Institutions will have access to skills development analytics offered through Coursera for Campus that allow administrators to track student progress against their career goals and benchmark against employees in the industry.
ACE®️ Credit Recommendation for entry-level Google certificates
Additionally, we’re pleased to announce that now, learners who complete any of Google’s entry-level Professional Certificates on Coursera—which include Data Analytics, IT Support, Project Management, and UX Design—are eligible to receive up to 12 college credits from participating colleges and universities in the US, or the equivalent of four college courses at the associate’s degree level. While each college and university has its own policies around credit for prior learning, ACE®️ recommendations enable more universities to accept the certificates for credit toward a degree.
“We are excited about this expansion of our Grow with Google Certificates program and the opportunity to partner with academic institutions across the US, including community colleges, which are critical to workforce development and economic mobility,” said Ruth Porat, Alphabet and Google CFO. “We believe that to have sustainable economic growth, we must have inclusive growth, and we are committed to continuing to help people develop the digital skills they need to participate in this economy.”
The University of London Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and University of North Texas Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences degrees on Coursera as well as Northeastern University are among the institutions accepting college credit from entry-level Google certificates.
The free initiative for community colleges and CTE high schools along with ACE®️ Credit Recommendation are major milestones on our journey to build a more just world through equal access to learning. To further expand flexible degree pathways, we’re working with our industry partners to put more entry-level Professional Certificates on Coursera through the ACE®️ Credit Recommendation process.
Launch a new career with Google’s Professional Certificates.
*Signups for the free initiative for a limited time only