SAS and Coursera bridge analytics skills gap with new SAS Programming Specialization

Three-course offering provides path to certification in one of today’s most in-demand skills

SAS and Coursera today announced a new offering that will enable people to supercharge their careers with high-demand analytics skills. The SAS^® Programming Specialization is a starting point for learners to apply SAS skills to careers in areas such as analytics, data engineering, data science, business analytics and biostatistics.

The future success of many companies, regardless of size and sector, is dependent on data. As demand for analytics professionals grows, those with data analytics skills such as SAS programming are finding rewarding career opportunities across industries.

“Analytics is an essential part of the fourth industrial revolution,” said Sean O’Brien, Vice President of Education at SAS. “Our customers are aggressively seeking talent to help them compete in the age of analytics. The broad reach of Coursera will help learners around the world more easily develop the SAS skills they need to get ahead.”

A Coursera Specialization is a series of related courses designed to help master a specific topic. The three-course SAS specialization takes learners from the basics through what they need to become SAS certified. Learners who complete the SAS Programming Specialization will acquire the skills to pass the SAS Base Programming Certification exam, a valuable credential across industries.

Learners have access to interactive demos, exercises and hands-on practice using a free SAS software environment. They can gain foundational knowledge and practical experience for career paths in data science and business analytics by analyzing real-world data sets.

Interested learners can get started with SAS on Coursera by visiting the SAS Programming Specialization page.

The SAS Global Certification program has long been the standard for industries like banking, pharma and insurance. Launched in 1999 to validate SAS skills and knowledge, the program has awarded more than 165,000 SAS credentials to individuals in 112 countries.

Coursera specialization one of many ways to build SAS skills

SAS offers many flexible ways for students and adult learners to learn SAS, including:

• A SAS Learning Subscription offers e-learning, help from experts, digital badging and performance tracking to help people plot a path to successful certification.
• SAS University Edition and SAS OnDemand for Academics provides professors, students, researchers and independent learners free access to SAS software for teaching and learning.
• Free e-learning and video tutorials are available for a variety of analytics topics.
• The SAS Academy for Data Science online program offers credentials in big data and data science and provides learners experience with advanced analytics such as machine learning, forecasting and optimization.
• SAS has collaborated with colleges and universities around the world to launch 75 degree and 212 joint certificate programs in analytics and related disciplines.