California Community Colleges Google, Partner to Provide Students with AI Skills
A new collaboration between the California Community Colleges system and Google will provide free access to AI tools and training for more than 2 million students and faculty across the state. The system will also join Google's AI for Education Accelerator, an initiative dedicated to equipping students with the AI skills they will need to succeed in the workforce.
"This collaboration with Google is a monumental step forward for the California Community Colleges," said Don Daves-Rougeaux, senior advisor to the chancellor of the California Community Colleges on Workforce Development, Strategic Partnerships, and GenAI, in a statement. "Providing our students with access to world-class AI training and professional certificates ensures they have the skills necessary to thrive in high-growth industries and contribute to California's economic prosperity. This partnership directly supports our Vision 2030 commitment to student success and workforce readiness. Additionally, offering access to AI tools with data protections and advanced functionality for free ensures that all learners have equitable access to the tools they need to leverage the skills they're learning, and saves California's community colleges millions of dollars in potential tool costs."
Through the partnership, all students, faculty, classified professionals, and regional consortia staff will receive access to Google's Gemini App (with data protections), Guided Learning, Gems custom AI prompts, Deep Research reports, NotebookLM, and more, at no cost. Students and faculty will also receive free access to Google Career Certificates as well as Google's AI Essentials and Prompting Essentials specializations.
Google and the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office will also collaborate with faculty to integrate the former's certificate programs and AI courses into existing college curricula and pathways, with a particular focus on data analytics and AI. Faculty will receive access to Google training and professional development programs, including the company's new Google AI in Higher Education course.
The statewide partnership builds on a regional pilot in which Google worked with Stanford Digital Education and the Bay Area Community College Consortium (BACCC) to integrate the Google Data Analytics Certificate into local curricula. The pilot "demonstrated the value of combining industry-recognized credentials with the supportive structure of community colleges to equip students with the skills they need for the future of work," according to a news announcement, and resulted in an implementation playbook that has been incorporated into Google's faculty training resources.
"Technology skills, especially in areas like artificial intelligence, are critical for the future workforce," said Bryan Lee, vice president of Google for Education Go-to-Market. "We are thrilled to partner with the California Community Colleges, the nation's largest higher education system, to bring valuable training and tools like Google Career Certificates, AI Essentials, and Gemini to millions of students. This collaboration underscores our commitment to creating economic opportunity for everyone."
About the Author
Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].