How The University of Texas at Arlington prepares students for immediate employment

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Five years ago Alma Roman of Fort Worth, Texas, was a 38-year-old teaching assistant and mother of two who hadn’t been a student in more than two decades. But with a divorce looming and a resolute determination to support herself and her family, Roman set her sights on a college degree.

“I wanted to be independent in terms of not relying on anybody else but myself,” Roman said. “I wanted to take care of myself financially.”

Her journey began with earning her GED. Next up: community college, an associate degree, and a transfer to The University of Texas at Arlington, where she could fulfill her dream of a four-year degree. But as she neared graduation, Roman learned of one more opportunity at UT Arlington that would expand her skills and make her more marketable as an employee, yet could be completed during her remaining semester of college.

The program, called Power Up + Tech Up, provides students access to a Google Career Certificate. Funded in part by Strada Education Foundation’s Beyond Completion Challenge, nine UT campuses have each embarked on their own microcredential offerings designed to meet the regional needs of their student populations.

UT Arlington prides itself as being among the most diverse four-year institutions in the country, with a population that is 60 percent students of color, 40 percent Pell Grant-eligible, and more than 50 percent first-generation college students. By combining a degree with a skills-based microcredential, graduates hope to prepare themselves for immediate employment in a quality first job after graduation.

“We are interested in motivating students, recruiting students, and educating our students beyond their degree,” said Robin Macaluso, a UT Arlington associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry and the faculty fellow leading the Power Up + Tech Up program. “They can expand their technical skill set and be more competitive as they launch their careers once they graduate from UTA.”

In launching the Power Up + Tech Up program, UT Arlington initially targeted transfer students but quickly expanded to include all students from any major. Because the program pairs development of high-demand skills such as communication, teamwork, and critical thinking with earning a skills-based microcredential, Power Up + Tech Up builds on students’ degrees to position UT Arlington graduates for early- and long-term career successes.  

“We know students come to UT Arlington with a career mindset,” said Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Tamara L. Brown, who noted that a recent survey of undergraduates found more than half prioritize career preparation alongside academics in their university experience. “When we prepare a student with a degree from UT Arlington and include a microcredential or high-demand skills credential, we prepare our graduates for successful careers starting with high-value positions.

“Our degrees prepare students for longer-term career success,” Brown continued. “The skills-based microcredentials often help place them into high-paying jobs right after college.”

The Google Career Certificate is just one microcredential offering at UT Arlington. In addition to Power Up + Tech Up, the university also has embedded Adobe Certified Professional exams into its art and art history courses and is looking into opportunities to couple microcredentials with other liberal arts degrees.

Rebecca Deen, associate dean of UT Arlington’s College of Liberal Arts, said one sign of success is that many art students, though initially reluctant to pursue a professional certification through their course, have gone on to seek higher levels of Adobe certification after completing their class and the initial certification embedded within it.

“These are students who are not inherently true believers in either microcredentialing or the need for Adobe,” Deen said. “They leave the class not only with the grade, not only with credit toward graduation, but also with the certification at no cost to them beyond the tuition and fees.”

Roman, the former teaching assistant, graduated with honors in spring 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in social work. The microcredential she earned through Power Up + Tech Up, she said, has made her think more broadly about what a career spent helping people might look like.

Armed with her Google IT Support Certificate, she is looking for jobs in both social work and information technology.

“As an IT support computer specialist, you help solve problems,” she said. “That’s also helping people, like with social work. You help them in a different capacity.”