VSU to offer students, employees free online specialized courses for high-demand fields

Allie Pitchon, Petersburg Progress-Index
·2 min read

VSU to offer students, employees free online specialized courses for high-demand fields

Virginia State University is partnering with global online learning platform Coursera to offer students and employees complimentary access to Coursera's Career Academy, through which they can pick up (and get certified in) valuable skills for high-demand fields.

More specifically, VSU students and employees will be able to use Coursera's Career Academy at no cost to earn micro-credentials in high-demand fields such as software engineering, information technology, business, marketing, data science and analytics from the world’s top companies. Also known as micro-degrees, micro-credentials are short-term “mini” courses (often lasting a week or less) that someone can take to become certified in a specific skill useful to their degree, career or field. For instance, someone in the software engineering career track might take a micro-credential course to become proficient in a specific programming language.

Through the partnership, VSU students and employees will be able to earn over 45 entry-level professional certificates from leading companies, including but not limited to Google, IBM, Microsoft, Meta and Salesforce, allowing students without prior work experience in particular to gain a competitive edge for in-demand jobs in a daunting job market.

"We are very excited about offering Coursera's Career Academy as part of our curriculum and making it accessible to members of the VSU community," said Dr. Tracy Barley, Vice Provost for Digital Learning and Extended Studies, in a news release announcing VSU's partnership with Coursera. "Our goal is to be the most credentialed institution in the state."

"It's no secret that the workforce is constantly changing, and this partnership perfectly aligns with our University's commitment to innovative learning, career readiness, and workplace development," added Barley. "This will be a great opportunity for the VSU community to learn new skills recognized by some of the most distinguished companies in the nation."

In the future, the news release states, VSU hopes to expand their partnership with Coursera to offer the same courses to VSU alumni and family members of current VSU faculty, staff, and students at discounted prices.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: VSU to offer students, employees free courses for high-demand fields