On June 25 Google announced that Collin College is one of the 25 college communities in the nation to offer Google’s IT Support certificate program in the 2018-2019 school year. The IT Support Professional Program is a college program that teaches novices how to become IT support professionals in approximately eight months. The program is designed to provide students with the training and experience they need to begin a career in IT support by teaching students how to troubleshoot as if they were on the job through hands-on assessments. Collin College officials said that it is too early to release specific information about the classes, but they did confirm that the college will be taking part in the IT support pilot program. IT support is one of the fastest growing fields in the U.S., and with over 150,000 unfilled IT positions, there is a high demand for specialists, according to a Google Press release. Most IT positions do not require a college degree, but do require prior experience, which is what Grow with Google aims to provide, the release said. The median annual earning for computer user support specialists was $52,160 as of May 2016, the release said. The IT support certificate program is part of the Grow with Google mission to create more economic opportunities for American’s. Students who complete the certificate program can share their information directly with more than 20 top employers who are looking to hire IT support talent, the release said. This group of employers includes Bank of America, Walmart, Sprint, GE Digital, PNC Bank, Infosys, TEKSystems, UPMC, Hulu, MCPc, Cognizant, RICOH USA, and ten members of the Walmart family: Sam’s Club, Shoes.com, Jet, Allswell, Bonobos, Hayneedle, Modcloth, Moosejaw, Store No 8, Vudu, and Google itself. Google has already given 10,000 learners free access to the program through financial aid and Google.org scholarships to nonprofits focusing on low-income learners of America, the release said.