ACTC offering Amazon Web Services Academy courses
May 20, 2019
Beginning in the Fall 2019, Ashland Community and Technical College will offer a new online program track – Cloud Computing Technologies – that will help students learn cloud skills and help lead to a potentially high-paying career in cloud-computing right after graduation.
Through its Computers and Information Technology program, ACTC’s new track will offer two courses through AWS Academy including the AWS Academy Cloud Foundations course and the AWS Academy Cloud Architecting course.
ACTC will offer two credentials that include AWS Academy courses. The first credential is the Associate of Applied Science degree with a Cloud Computing Technologies Track. This track requires 61 credit hours and can be completed in five semesters, which includes one summer term. The second credential will focus on AWS Academy Cloud Architecting. It will require 19 hours of course work and can be completed in three semesters as a part-time student.
Both programs will prepare students to take the AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification Exam and the AWS Cloud Solutions Architect Associate Exam.
This makes ACTC one of the first associate degree-level schools to offer an associate of applied science degree that includes a sequence in AWS, and the first to do so fully online.
According to data from Global Knowledge, the average salary for an AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate in 2018 was $ 117,773.
“AWS Certified professionals earn salaries up to 29% higher than the norm for certified staff, and 10% higher compared to other cloud certifications,” said Randolph Cullum, CIT program coordinator at ACTC. And since the program is online, out-of-state students qualify for in-state tuition rates, he said.
“The Cloud Computing Technologies Track and AWS Academy offers an institutionally embedded pathway for students to gain the necessary computing skills and knowledge that prepares them for the IT workforce. Students will graduate with the training and certification that will prepare them for the workforce and help the industry tighten the skills gap,” Cullum said.
For more information on the Cloud Computing Technologies track, contact Cullum at randolph.cullum@kctcs.edu.
ACTC will also host an information session for prospective students for the CIT program, as well as Business Administration and Medical Information Technology, at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 16 at the Technology Drive Campus.
The hour-long session will include information on the structure of the program, credential options, online learning, internship opportunities and more. Admissions and financial aid staff will also be available to help people register for classes and answer questions on how to pay for college.
