Interesting Reads This Week

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This was one of those weeks where the days felt short, but the week felt long. A lot was happening, but what did I read?

Credentials, certifications, and careers in community colleges

The certifying body CompTIA published a report this week on community college student trends. As expected, it focuses on community college perspectives on professional certifications, a topic that’s of particular interest to me. I firmly believe that helping students earn professional certifications alongside their degrees is a great way to set them up for success in post-graduation employment and career development.

According to the report, nearly half of the almost 500 community college students surveyed said that obtaining a professional certification is either required or recommended by their institution. That’s higher than I expected, and I’ll take that as good news.

Among students pursuing an industry certification, 96% report that it is helping them advance at least one step in their career, with 46% saying it’s helping them move even further ahead.

Unfortunately, in institutions where professional certifications are neither required nor encouraged, student awareness and enthusiasm for them tends to be low. There’s clearly a communication challenge here which, to be fair, makes some sense.

Finally, not directly related to certifications, CompTIA asked students about how they are learning about AI. Most students are finding a way to learn about AI, but for younger more traditional age students, that learning is by using tools and through informal learning on social media. Older students are more likely to seek out formal courses and training.

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