Dive Brief:
- The University of Texas System and Google on Dec. 9 announced that the university would begin offering Google Career Certificates to students at eight of the system’s institutions. The certificates will be built into undergraduate degree programs and offered as co-curricular experiences and will not be an additional cost to students, according to a news release.
- The certificates will be available in the fields of data analytics, e-commerce and digital marketing, IT Support, automation in python, project management and user experience design. The partnership with the University of Texas marks Google’s largest with a university so far, the release said.
- “With the Texas population expected to double by 2050 and Texas projected to have the highest net job growth of any state by 2030, [University of Texas] institutions are proud to be leading efforts to meet our state’s workforce and industry demands while positioning our graduates for success and professional growth in the modern job market,” Chancellor James Milliken said in a news release.
Dive Insight:
As companies look to find workers with the skills needed for their industries, many are working with universities to train students and help connect them to jobs.
Last week, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee announced a new apprenticeship program that provides training on the human resources platform Workday offered by the university and Helios Consulting, a Workday advisory partner. Those enrolled will have opportunities to find jobs with Helios’ clients after completing the program.
Similarly, those enrolled in Google Career Certificates programs will have access to the Google Career Certificates Employer Consortium, which includes more than 150 U.S. companies like Deloitte, Target and Verizon that say they will consider Google Career Certificate graduates for entry-level jobs.
In some cases, employers say they consider certificates as alternatives to four-year degrees when reviewing candidates.
