Mesa Community College is participating in the AWS Academy, an Amazon Web Services program that provides higher education institutions with a ready-to-teach cloud computing curriculum.

Beginning in January 2021, students can enroll in courses that will prepare them to pursue careers in the fast-growing cloud computing space and earn industry-recognized AWS certifications, according to a release.

The two AWS Academy courses offered in Spring 2021 are AWS Academy Cloud Foundations (CLD 110) and AWS Cloud Architecting (CLD 120). These courses will prepare students for two popular AWS certifications — the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner and the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate. MCC AWS Academy students receive a 50% discount on AWS certification exams.

The AWS Academy curriculum is developed and maintained by AWS subject matter experts, ensuring that it reflects current services and up-to-date best practices. Courses are taught by AWS Academy-accredited educators who are trained by AWS to help students become proficient in AWS technology, the release states.

“Cloud computing is changing the way IT is done,” Dennis Kibbe, MCC computer information systems faculty, said in the release. “By offering the AWS Academy curriculum to our students MCC is helping them develop the technical skills needed to enter this well-paying and exciting career field.”

The spring semester begins Jan. 16. A step-by-step guide to enrollment is at mesacc.edu/enroll.