Sundar Pichai recently announced a $100 million Google Career Certificates fund. It has nothing to do with a college education. Instead, it focuses on providing up-and-coming data analytics, IT, project management, and UX design students with the tactical tools they need to kick-start their careers.
A great initiative inline
It is the latest in a long line of similar initiatives by coding boot camps and online educational portals like Udemy and Coursera. Opening doors for new and better opportunities, Pichai’s initiative will change the tech industry greatly in the years to come. Additionally, there are various cost-linked benefits as well.
Cost of tuition and linked aspects
According to U.S. News & World Report, the average cost of tuition and fees for a ranked public college in the state for the 2021-22 school year is around $10,000.
Out-of-state residents pay around $23k for the same. Private school students pay around $38,000 per year, which is remarkably high.
Total tuition ranges from $45k to $171k over four and a half years. This is the average time it takes to complete an undergraduate degree.
Meanwhile, starting salaries are typically in the $50,000 range. When we split this salary, much of that money goes toward housing, necessities, and student loan payments. The left-out portion is quite low, leaving little room for financial progress.
With such programs, education affordability increases greatly, which will push financial development in the years to come, as reported by Inc.com.
Role of companies in education
In education, businesses have two roles to play. The first is to alter hiring practices to consider those with potential but insufficient funds to pay for their degrees.
And the second is in shaping the educational landscape. If a company has the expertise and resources, it can provide training and development. It will allow under-indexed employees to enter the workforce with critical skills.
Expectations from such initiatives
Offering opportunities to upskill is the first step towards shaping the future and molding oneself into a financially stable form. This initiative from Google is a stepping stone in developing a better education model that is here to stay for decades with the potential to bring the radical change that everyone is waiting for.
