edX Launches 15 Professional Certificate Programs Backed by Top Universities and Corporations

edX Inc. has announced the launch of the Professional Certificate program, a series of courses created by top universities and corporations, designed to build critical skills for specific careers. “As an innovator in education, edX is always exploring how to further our mission to expand access to and improve the quality of learning,” explained Anant Agarwal, CEO at edX.

These courses will be shorter in length, usually 4-8 weeks each, compared to the MicroMasters program, which are approximately 2-6 months long, created to bridge the gap between education and corporations while offering a pathway to credit.

Initially, there will be 15 Professional Certificate programs from 13 universities and companies such as Microsoft, HSBC, GitHub and The North Face. Microsoft’s Data Science program will be one of the most complete, while GitHub will support Berkeley’s Agile Development course.