Google to award scholarships for its online certificate programmes

Google is offering 100,000 scholarships for online certificate programmes in tech courses under its Grow with Google series, to even out the playing field in technology-related sectors.

The tech giant will award these need-based scholarships for American citizens enrolled in any of these online certificate programmes as a part of its effort to help the American economy recover post COVID-19.

Google Senior Vice President of Global Affairs, Kent Walker said that college degrees are out of reach for many Americans and this should not be prohibitive to their economic stability.

Walker added that there is a need for new, accessible job-training solutions that range from enhanced vocational programs to online education that can help the country recover and rebuild its economy.

The three new Google Career Certificates will focus on data analytics, project management, and user experience (UX) design, which will help Americans acquire in-demand skills and get high-paying jobs.

The three new courses will be offered through Coursera, an online learning platform, and can be completed within six months.

The tech giant says these online certifications are equivalent to a standard 4-year college degree and says it considers all its certificates as the equivalent of a four-year college degree for related roles at the company.

The company will also be awarding over $10 million in grants to three non-profit organisations, YWCA, NPower, and JFF that partner with Google to provide workforce development to women, veterans, and Americans from other underrepresented communities.

This initiative is in line with Google’s aim to provide an opportunity for those without a college degree to work in the field.

Google Vice President, Lisa Gevelber says, “While college degrees have tons of value, they are not accessible to everyone.”

“And we believe that the absence of a college degree should not be a barrier to economic stability,” she adds.

This initiative is an expansion of Google’s IT Certificate Employer Consortium, which currently includes over 50 American employers such as  Walmart, Hulu, Sprint, and of course Google.

Google launched a similar IT certification programme in 2018 to provide access for underrepresented and non-traditional applicants in an effort to diversify its own workforce.

Google says that 58% of those who take their IT certificate identify as Black, Latino, female, or as a veteran. It also says that 45% of enrollees make less than $30,000 per year.

The tech giant claims that 80% of participants say the programme helped them advance their job search or career within six months, including getting a raise, finding a new job, or starting a new business.

According to Google, its IT certification programme has helped individuals like Yves Cooper, who enrolled in the programme through its Grow with Google Partner, Merit America, while working as a van driver.

“Within five days of completing the program, he was offered a role as an IT helpdesk technician at a non-profit in his hometown of Washington, D.C.,” says the tech company.