Google IT Program Expands to Community Colleges with JFF

Community colleges play a powerful role in creating economic opportunities for Americans—almost 40 percent of all undergraduates in the United States are educated at two-year schools.

To expand the impact and align the offerings of community colleges with employers, Google.org is supporting JFF to work with community colleges in seven states (California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Wisconsin) to scale the Google IT Support Professional Certificate. JFF will coordinate with community colleges to integrate the lessons directly into existing programs and curricula or offer the certificate as a standalone module. Some schools are providing credit for prior learning for learners who complete the certificate; others are offering credit through one or more courses.

The Google IT Support Professional Certificate is a unique program with highly interactive content. It provides a direct route for those who successfully complete the program to get their info into the hands of employers.

The majority of IT support positions do not require a college degree, but they do require prior experience. This certificate is full of hands-on assessments and designed to give learners the training and experience they need to get a job in tech.

There are over 150,000 open roles in the IT support field, and the number will keep growing as technology becomes more ingrained in everyday life. In fact, jobs in this field are projected to grow 10 percent between 2016 and 2026—faster than the average for all other occupations. With such a huge demand for IT support specialists, Google and JFF are committed to preparing the workforce of the future.

Read a press release about the Google IT Support Professional Certificate:

Grow with Google, Google’s Initiative to Create Economic Opportunities for Americans, Supporting JFF, a Workforce Development Leader, to Integrate Program into CCs.

Fourteen Additional Employers Sign On to Consider Program Graduates for Jobs.

Google Contact: Peter Schottenfels

schottenfels@google.com / 646-832-6578

MOUNTAIN VIEW (June 25, 2018)—Today, Grow with Google announced that it will bring the IT Support Professional Certificate to over 25 community colleges. Google.org is funding the workforce development nonprofit JFF to provide support for learners in seven states (California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Wisconsin). In addition, 14 more companies signed on to consider those who complete the program for their IT support jobs. The program will be available in the 2018-2019 school year.

“Google is committed to training the workforce of today and tomorrow, and we are thrilled to team up with community colleges to help graduates jump start a new career in IT Support,” said Jesse Haines, director of Grow with Google. “Community colleges play an important role in helping Americans get ahead, and they will be strong partners in Grow with Google’s mission to create more economic opportunities for Americans.”

Launched in January on the Coursera learning platform, Google’s IT Support Professional Certificate aims to train learners with no prior experience to be IT support professionals in about eight months. In the five months since its inception, almost 40,000 learners have enrolled in the online program.

With over 150,000 open positions, IT support is one of the fastest growing fields in the US. While there is demand for specialists, employers are often challenged to find trained talent, as the majority of IT support positions do not require a college degree but do require prior experience. Through lots of hands-on assessments that allow learners to troubleshoot as if they were on the job, this certificate is designed to give learners the training and experience they need to get a job in tech support. As of May 2016, the median annual wage for computer user support specialists was $52,160.

As part of today’s announcement, learners who complete the certificate program can now share their information directly with more than 20 top employers who are looking to hire IT support talent. The first group of employers includes Bank of America, Walmart, Sprint, GE Digital, PNC Bank, Infosys, TEKSystems, UPMC, and Google itself. The 14 new companies include Hulu, MCPc, Cognizant, RICOH USA, and 10 members of the Walmart family: Sam’s Club, Shoes.com, Jet, Allswell, Bonobos, Hayneedle, Modcloth, Moosejaw, Store N°8 , and Vudu.

“JFF is excited to join forces with Google to lead the implementation of the Google IT Support Professional Certificate in over 25 leading community colleges across the country ” said Maria Flynn, president and CEO of JFF. “This collaboration is an opportunity for JFF to leverage its extensive expertise in working with community colleges to support Google’s innovative new IT credential that offers a pathway for students into self-sustaining IT jobs.”

“Technology is driving change at an incredible rate, and that has created an intense demand for people with IT skills,” said Bill Pink, PhD, president of Grand Rapids Community College. “GRCC is excited to collaborate with Google and JFF to help meet this need by offering the Google IT certificate. Through this initiative, we hope to provide relevant training to help our students acquire additional IT skills so that they can secure living-wage jobs or opportunities for upward mobility in their present positions. This type of collaboration is the key to getting things done at larger scales, and Google’s work with the community college sector should be no exception.”

The IT Support Professional Certificate is a key program in Grow with Google, our initiative to create more economic opportunities for Americans. Like other Grow with Google programs, such as Get Your Business Online and Applied Digital Skills, the certificate is intended to give more Americans access to the digital skills, and to find success in today’s digital economy.

Already, Google has given 10,000 learners free access to the program through financial aid and Google.org scholarships to nonprofits focusing on low-income learners through Year Up, Per Scholas, and Goodwill®; veterans through Student Veterans of America; and refugees through Upwardly Global.