by Steve Kolowich, Chronicle of Higher Ed
Coursera will soon offer credentials for more than just individual MOOCs. The company, which provides hosting and support for massive open online courses, announced on Tuesday that it planned to give certificates to students who take sequences of MOOCs from its university partners. The new program, called Specializations, will include certificates in data science, mobile-app development, and cybersecurity. Each sequence will comprise three to nine MOOCs, plus a capstone project in which students will be asked to apply their skills, by building an app, coding a secure web page, or producing a 5,000-word essay. Since Specialization certificates will involve Signature Track courses only, the certificates will end up costing students $200 to $500, including a $30 fee for the capstone project, said Julia Stiglitz, Coursera’s head of business development.