October 29, 2021 — Middlesex Community College welcomed U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to their Middletown campus to help Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont and U.S. Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal announce a state partnership with Google that offers the full suite of Google Career Certificates across the state’s colleges and universities system.
The event included a tour of the MxCC Ophthalmic Design & Dispensing labs and the Center for New Media followed by a panel discussion announcing that Connecticut has become the first state in the nation to offer the program.
Panelists included Secretary Miguel Cardona; Senators Blumenthal and Chris Murphy; Governor Ned Lamont; Kelli Vallieres, Chief Workforce Officer for the State of Connecticut; Ruth Porat, Chief Financial Officer of Alphabet (Google’s parent company); Terrence Cheng, President of the CSCU System; Ahmad Salaam, a star student at STEAM Train’s Mobile Application Development (MAD) Camp that was held at MxCC in 2017; Stephanie Ramos-Bauza, a student at Wilcox Tech High School; and David Tran, a graduate of UConn-Stamford who within the first five weeks of completing the Google certificates landed five job interviews.
All Connecticut Community Colleges will offer credit and non-credit courses that will include Google Career Certificate courses beginning in Spring 2022. The Google Career Certificates have a track record of helping people rapidly skill and obtain in-demand jobs. Fifty-three percent of graduates identify as Black, Latinx, female, or veteran, and 82 percent report a positive career impact within six months of completion (such as a raise, promotion, or new job). Learn more about the Google Career Certificates at ct.edu/google. MxCC is excited to bring this major partnership to students over the next calendar year.
CT.gov: Certificates Are Now Available Across the Entire CSCU System
Hartford Business Journal: CT first in nation to offer Google career certificates at all state colleges; Infosys pledges 250 Hartford hires
WTNH-TV8: Conn. becomes first state to offer full suite of Google Career Certificates across CSCU system
WFBS-TV3: CSCU, Google announce partnership to help train people for tech jobs
Fox 61: Google career certificates available at CT universities and colleges
WTNH-TV8: Sec. of Education Cardona visits Middlesex Community College, joins education roundtable
NBC 30: U.S. Education Secretary Cardona Visits Middletown
News 12: US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona tours Middlesex Community College
US Secretary of Education: Cardona Joins Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and U.S. Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal for Visit to Middlesex Community College to Discuss Importance of Workforce Development Programs
Hartford Courant: Google and Connecticut launch certificate program for IT, data analytics at colleges and universities
CNBC: Google is giving all U.S. community colleges free access to their 4 career certificates
Middletown Press: ‘It’s a door-opener’: Google, CSCU declare groundbreaking collaboration at Middlesex Community College
Durham-Middlefield Patch: Middlesex Community College Welcomes United States Secretary Of Education To Announce Google Partnership
Tech Story: Google granting all US community colleges free access to its career certifications
DoingItLocal.com: Google Career Certificates
WNPR: US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona returns to Connecticut to discuss career opportunities for students
CBIA: Connecticut, Google Partner on Workforce Development Initiative
TechSpot: Google makes career certificates free for US community colleges
