Arizona State University’s Universal Learner Program, in partnership with Google, is offering a new Google IT Certification! From ASU’s site:
“Learn the skills you need for an introductory-level job in IT support.
In this online program, you’ll work through six ASU Universal Learner Courses that leverage the Google IT Support Certificate, as well as supplemental industry material that is aimed at giving you the best preparation possible to begin a career in Information Technology.
Upon completion, you’ll receive a co-branded professional certificate from ASU and Google, as well as 15 credit hours that you can apply towards a bachelor’s degree.”
Courses are designed to be completed sequentially, and are self paced! Students have up to 1 year to complete each course, and the first course begins January 2022. The certification courses include:
CIS 194 Technical Support Fundamentals – 1 credit
CIS 194 Computer Networking – 2 credits
CIS 194 Operating Systems and You: Becoming a Power User – 3 credits
CIS 294 System Administration and IT Infrastructure Services – 3 credits
CIS 394 IT Security: Defense Against the Digital Dark Arts – 3 credits
CIS 402 Privacy, Ethics, and Compliance – 3 credits
The first 3 courses do have the same course number, which we have been advised may change in the future. It is common for colleges to have the same course number on survey courses which may change topic with each offering. The first course only costs $25, with no fee to have the course transcripted. As with all Universal Learner program courses, the remaining courses cost just $25 to start and students only pay $400 at the end of the course if they like the grade. There is no record of failure if the student does not complete the course or receives a lower grade than wanted. Simply do not pay the $400 for the course to be added to the transcript. Retake courses as many times as is needed to pass with the grade you want.
According to ASU, the courses must be completed in sequence and the next course will become available in their catalog (dashboard). The total cost for the courses in the certificate is $2150, which is paid at the time the student signs up and then completes each course and chooses to have it transcripted. Cost per credit averages out to be ~$143/cr for the full 15 college credits. The certificate will be emailed to you upon completion of the program and will have both the ASU and Google logos on it, along with your name.
For those wondering if the courses are the same as Coursera, ASU said “These courses are similar to the courses on Coursera (and leverage some of the same content), but there are additional learning outcomes from our courses and learners achieve academic credit with ours, whereas the ones at Coursera don’t have academic credit guaranteed with them. (Some institutions may validate the credential for credit, but many won’t)” This is referring to ACE credit that some institutions will accept for college credit. Please see “30 Ways to Earn College Credit” on our website for additional information about ACE credit and its transferability. Coursera’s courses have been approved by ACE for up to 12 lower level credits (100-200 level). Please note that the amount of credit granted for ACE credit is determined by the receiving institution. ASU’s certificate includes 4 courses with 9 total lower level credits, and 2 courses with 6 total upper level (300-400 level) credits.
We also asked our contacts at ASU which degrees the credits would apply to: “These will serve as elective credits at the University. They stack really well into any business major at the institution, or majors with several elective credits (liberal studies, organizational leadership, technical writing, etc). However, the electives should be applicable for any major.”
For more information about the Universal Learner program, visit our HS4CC UL page and join our ASU for Homeshoolers Facebook group.
