Coursera
Introduction
Coursera is a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) site where the majority of the courses/certificates that are available are only usable for resume padding and/or to assist with receiving PLA credit. Most of the courses will not directly lead to credit that can be used toward getting your degree. However, some organizations have independently sought ACE credit recommendations for certain certificates. These certificates also happen to be available through Coursera.
American residents may obtain free certificates through The American Dream Academy. Not all certificates are available and other requirements may need to be met. (Available certificates are marked below with TADA.) Students may complete as many available certificates as they are able to within 6 months of signing up for The American Dream Academy.
Although not fully confirmed, based on past experiences, Pierpont should give the full recommended amount of credit for all of the certificates listed below. They are known to give full credits for the Google IT Support Professional certificate.
Advancing Women in Tech
The Advancing Women in Product organization (also known as Advancing Women in Tech or AWIP/AWIT) has the goal of increasing the number of women in technology fields. The Coursera specializations do not seem to be restricted only to women, however. They are included in Coursera Plus, otherwise the cost is $79/mo.
| Certificate | ACE credit recommendations | Excelsior equivalency & credits | TESU equivalency & credits | UMPI equivalency & credits | WGU equivalency & credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real-World Cloud Product Management Specialization | 6 total: 3 UL Product Management, 3 UL Cloud Computing Fundamentals | ||||
| Real-World Product Management Specialization | 3 total: 3 LL Introduction to Business Marketing |
DeepLearning.AI
Not included in Coursera Plus. May be included in some institutional subscriptions, otherwise must pay $49/mo. after the free 7-day trial. Students who are interested in machine learning may be interested in the DeepLearning.AI specializations, though only one is currently available for ACE credit.
| Certificate | ACE credit recommendations | Excelsior equivalency & credits | TESU equivalency & credits | UMPI equivalency & credits | WGU equivalency & credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deep Learning Specialization | 10 total: 2 LL Neural Networks & Deep Learning, 2 LL Improving Deep Neural Networks, 1 LL Structuring Machine Learning Projects, 2 LL Convolutional Neural Networks, 3 LL Sequence Models |
Google Professional Certificates
The Google Professional Certificates are included in Coursera Plus, which is normally $399/year. There may be sales that drop the cost of Coursera Plus to $299/year. Individually, the certificates are $39/mo. (as of March 2022). While it is cheaper to complete the certificates one at a time (provided you only take 1-2 months per certificate), it may be worth it to get Coursera Plus if any of the included non-credit courses/certificates catch your eye.
If you are a resident of Indian or have a VPN set to an Indian location, it is possible to acquire any of the Google Professional Certificates at a significantly discounted rate. You would forfeit the free trial period. The rates (not including taxes) are 1086 INR (~$14 USD) for 1 month, 2173 INR (~$28 USD) for 3 months and 3259 INR (~$42 USD) for 6 months. Simply add the certificate to your cart while connected to an Indian VPN location, and disconnect at the checkout page to avoid triggering fraud warnings with your credit card. The same can be done for other global south countries (e.g. the Philippines, South Africa) for $14 USD.
| Certificate | ACE credit recommendations | Excelsior equivalency & credits | TESU equivalency & credits | UMPI equivalency & credits | WGU equivalency & credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Analytics (TADA) | 12 total: 3 LL databases, 3 LL SQL programming, 3 LL systems analysis, 3 LL R programming | ITS-130 Database Fundamentals, ITS-231 Database Programming, COS-206 R Programming, ITS-199 Special Topics in ITS (12 credits total) | BUS-245 Programming for Managers (3 credits) + COS-1XX elective (12 credits total) | ||
| IT Support Professional (TADA) | 12 total: 6 LL computer information systems, 3 LL cybersecurity, 3 LL computer networking | CMP-202 Foundations of Info Technology (3 credits total) | COS-1XX Elective | C182 Introduction to IT (4 units total); satisfies admission requirements for some IT degrees | |
| Project Management (TADA) | 9 total: 3 LL intro to project management, 3 UL project management, 3 UL Agile project management | MAN-235 Intro to Project Management, MAN-437 Effective Project Management, MAN-438 Mastering Project Management (9 credits total) | |||
| UX Design (TADA) | 10 total: 3 LL web design, 3 LL user experience (UX) design, 1 LL career development, 3 UL user experience (UX) design | CAP-280 Worldwide Web Development, CAP-281 Multimedia Web Development (6 credits total) |
Purdue University Global has their own mapping for these certificates.
Southern New Hampshire University also has clear mapping for these certificates.
IBM
Unlike the Google certificates, the IBM certificates are not included with Coursera Plus. The IBM certificates are $39 or $49/mo (as of March 2022), depending on the certificate.
Although IBM has several certificates available on Coursera, as of March 2022 only 3 of them have been evaluated for credit. It is possible that more will follow in the future, so students may wish to check IBM's active courses in the ACE National Guide before committing to any particular certificates.
| Certificate | ACE credit recommendations | Excelsior equivalency & credits | TESU equivalency & credits | UMPI equivalency & credits | WGU equivalency & credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cybersecurity Analyst Professional (TADA) | 10 total: 2 LL Cybersecurity, 2 LL Networking, 4 LL digital forensics & incident response, 2 UL advanced computer concepts | CAP-295 Intro to Security Basics, COS-199 Special Topics in Computer Sci (6 credits total) | |||
| Data Analyst Professional | 12 total: 3 LL in data analytics, 3 LL in SQL, 3 LL in Python, 3 UL in advanced data analytics | ||||
| Data Science Professional | 12 total: 3 LL in data science, 3 LL in SQL, 3 LL in Python, 3 UL in advanced data science | ||||
| IBM Applied Data Science Specialization | 12 total: 3 LL in data analytics, 3 LL in data visualization, 3 LL in data mining, 3 LL in Python for data science | ||||
| IBM Data Analysis and Visualization Foundations Specialization | 9 total: 3 LL in introduction to data analytics, 3 UL in advanced data analytics, 3 UL in intermediate data visualization | ||||
| IBM Data Analytics with Excel and R Professional Certificate | 15 total: 3 LL introduction to data analytics, 3 LL introduction to databases & SQL programming, 3 UL R programming fundamentals, 3 UL advanced data analytics, 3 UL data visualization | ||||
| IBM Data Engineering Professional Certificate | 12 total: 3 LL introduction to Python, 3 LL introduction to database systems, 3 UL advanced SQL programming, 3 UL data mining | ||||
| IBM Data Science Fundamentals with Python and SQL Specialization | 8 total: 1 LL data science, 3 LL intro to python programming, 2 LL intro to SQL programming, 2 LL intro to statistics in Python | ||||
| IBM Full Stack Software Developer Professional Certificate | 18 total: 3 LL cloud computing, 3 LL web development, 3 LL server development, 3 UL cloud applications, 3 UL python for data science, 3 UL SQL applications | ||||
| IBM Introduction to Data Science Specialization | 7 total: 3 LL data sciences, 1 LL introduction to programming, 1 introduction to statistics, 2 introduction to database & SQL programming |
Meta (formerly Facebook)
As of March 2022, Meta has exactly one ACE-recommended certificate on Coursera. This certificate costs $49/mo. or it is part of Coursera Plus.
| Certificate | ACE credit recommendations | Excelsior equivalency & credits | TESU equivalency & credits | UMPI equivalency & credits | WGU equivalency & credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Media Marketing Professional (TADA) | 2 total: 2 LL in Marketing |
After finishing the Coursera certificate, students may complete the Meta Certified Digital Marketing Associate exam for 1 additional credit in marketing. This exam costs up to $99 (depending on student location).
SAS
SAS is a company that offers data analytics solutions. The SAS certificates are targeted at data analysts or people who want to be data analysts, but anyone may take them. They are included in Coursera Plus or students pay $49/mo for these courses.
| Certificate | ACE credit recommendations | Excelsior equivalency & credits | TESU equivalency & credits | UMPI equivalency & credits | WGU equivalency & credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAS Advanced Programmer Professional Certificate | 3 Total: 3 UL in Software Engineering | ||||
| SAS Programmer Professional Certificate | 4 total: 4 LL in Intro to Computer Programming |