Google is going to offer 100,000 need-based scholarships for online certification courses in project management, data analytics, and UX design. These online certification courses will equip the participants with the essential skills to get a job.
The reason that these professional certification programs are being launched is to motivate the job seekers affected by Covid-19 pandemic.
Who is going to teach Online Certification Courses?
These online certification courses are arranged and taught by Google employees. Part of Google’s Grow with Google initiative, these online certification courses are available to anyone. There are no required pre-requisites or college degrees for these professional certification programs. It would take up to 3 to 6 months to complete those certifications.
Google is also expanding its hiring consortium for the new certificates along with the offering of hundreds of apprenticeship opportunities at Google to provide graduates with the real on-the-job training.
How to apply for Google’s Online Certification Programs
Google is considering these online certification programs equivalent to the four-year college degree for related roles at the company.
In a press release; Kent Walker, senior vice president of global affairs at Google, says:
“College degrees are out of reach for many Americans, and you shouldn’t need a college diploma to have economic security. We need new, accessible job-training solutions — from enhanced vocational programs to online education — to help America recover and rebuild.”
These online certification programs will be hosted through the online learning platform Coursera.
Ken Walker says that Goggle is also providing $10 million in Google.org grants to the YWCA, NPower and JFF to help workforce boards and nonprofits improve their job training programs and increase access to digital skills for women, veterans and underserved Americans.
Google vice president, Lisa Gevelber, who leads Grow with Google and Google for Startups says:
“This is not revenue-generating for Google. There’s a small cost from the Coursera platform itself — the current pricing is $49 a month — but we want to ensure that anyone who wants to have this opportunity, can have it.”
Google was already offering an IT support professional certificate program, launched in 2018. Now, these three more online courses will be added to Google’s online certificate programs soon.
Google has not yet provided a direct link for applying. They have made only a formal announcement. Therefore, it is advised to visit the google blog and Coursera for the updates.
Good Luck!