Google.org Grants Scholarships to Year Up for First-of-its-Kind Tech Support Certificate Training On Coursera
BOSTON (PRWEB) January 17, 2018 -- Year Up, a national nonprofit that provides Opportunity Youth (ages 18-24, without college degrees) with six months of free technical and professional skills training, followed by a six-month internship at a top company, has been announced as a grantee of Google.org scholarships for IT certificates offered through Coursera, a leading online education provider, to help learners acquire the skills they need to start a career in IT. With cutting-edge courses, hands-on labs and more, the Google IT Support Professional Certificate is designed to take beginning learners to job readiness in 8 to 12 months.
"We’re thrilled to be working with Google.org on this game-changing initiative for scaling what is proven to work in terms of workforce development and closing the Opportunity Divide,” said Gerald Chertavian, founder and CEO of Year Up. “Together, we will harness the power of Coursera online training to help many more thousands of low-income youth gain the IT skills that employers need — ones that lead to strong, family-sustaining careers.”
Just last year, there were 150,000 job postings for IT Support roles in the United States alone.
IT support roles are in high demand, and expected to grow 10% in the United States by 2026. That’s faster than average for all other occupations.
Google.org is providing scholarships and full financial assistance to 10,000 learners over the next year. A portion of those seats are with Year Up and others non-profit partners. Those who complete the program will have the option to share their information with top companies across sectors and across the country who are hiring entry-level IT support, including Bank of America, Walmart, Sprint, GE Digital, Accenture, PNC Bank, Infosys, L'Oreal, TEKSystems, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and Google.
This first-of-its-kind IT certificate will give aspiring professionals a hands-on IT experience. Through Coursera’s platform, learners will be able to learn on the go with short engaging videos interspersed with interactive labs that simulate on-the-job troubleshooting.
Year Up will offer the IT certificate scholarship as a grantee of the Google and Coursera partnership beginning with four sites and to alumni as a pilot beginning in March 2018 to help bridge the “digital divide” in our country. Student participants will receive scholarships from Google.org and on-the-ground support from Year Up instructors and staff.
“Finding qualified IT personnel is a challenge many companies face. With 150,000 open roles in
IT support, it is one of the fastest growing occupations in the country,” said Ben Fried, Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Google. “We developed this curriculum to address this problem head on. We are looking forward to working with Coursera, our nonprofit grantees and participating corporations to create opportunities for thousands of learners.”
“As technology advances change or replace more jobs, we must create more pathways for people to jump into the new, high paying careers of the future,” said Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of Coursera. “We are excited to work with Google, nonprofits, and top employers to grow a pipeline of skilled workers and give them the resources they need to succeed as IT professionals.”
To learn more about the Year Up scholarship program with Google and the IT Support Professional Certificate on Coursera, please visit: https://grow.google
About Year Up
Year Up's mission is to close the Opportunity Divide by providing urban young adults with the skills, experience, and support that will empower them to reach their potential through professional careers and higher education. Year Up achieves this mission through a high support, high expectation model that combines marketable job skills, stipends, internships and college-level coursework. Its holistic approach focuses on students' professional and personal development to place these young adults on a viable path to economic self-sufficiency. Year Up currently serves more than 3,600 students annually across 24 campuses in Arizona, Baltimore, Bay Area, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Greater Atlanta, Greater Boston, Greater Philadelphia, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, National Capital Region, New York City, Providence, Puget Sound, South Florida and Wilmington.
To learn more, visit http://www.yearup.org and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter: @YearUp
Roberto Zeledon, Year Up, http://www.yearup.org, +1 (857) 305-9995, [email protected]
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