Online Certificate Programs at Colleges and Universities Gain Popularity - ELIZABETH OLSON, NY Times

As employers demand skills and more skills, many people are turning to online certificate programs to acquire a specific expertise that can lead them to a job or a promotion — or, sometimes, simply to ensure that they hang on to their current position. Although less well known than “massive open online courses,” known as MOOCs, online certificates are “part of the unbundling of education that is happening now,” said Joel Shapiro, associate dean of academics at Northwestern University’s School of Continuing Studies.... “The student adds a skill and gets a stamp of academic approval for the effort,” said Ray Schroeder, director of the Center for Online Learning, Research and Service at the University of Illinois, Springfield.... Many people apply their certificate course work to a master’s degree, said Jim Fong, director of the Center for Research and Consulting, part of the University Professional and Continuing Education Association, a grouping of 350 colleges and universities. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/education/online-certificate-programs-at-colleges-and-universities-gain-popularity.html?pagewanted=all