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Prepare students for in-demand careers with new high-impact resources

January 25, 2021 in News | 3 min. read
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The Unity Academic Alliance, a program for postsecondary institutions, now features valuable new additions including competency-based curricular frameworks, deep discounts on Unity products, and Unity Certifications. Read on to learn more about how these updates can benefit your school.

As the world’s leading platform for creating interactive, real-time 3D content, Unity is used for everything from game development to augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) applications in fields like architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC), automotive, transportation, and manufacturing (ATM), and media and entertainment. Because of its broad application across a variety of high-tech roles, real-time 3D development skills are in high demand. Jobs using these skills are growing over 600% faster than the overall job market; AR/VR and gaming engineering roles had the highest job growth in 2019. Real-time 3D skills are invaluable for students interested in a rewarding, high-growth career.  

Since launching in 2018, Unity Academic Alliance (UAA) has helped over 100 postsecondary institutions start and expand innovative programs in real-time 3D development to prepare students for these in-demand roles. UAA members have benefited from professional development and upskilling opportunities to support their faculty in teaching Unity. They have also had access to Unity Certification materials. 

The Unity education team has spent the past few months gathering member feedback to ensure that UAA provides the tools and resources to make their programs a success. Today, as a result of this feedback, we’re excited to share three major updates to the UAA program.

Curricular Frameworks

One of the biggest challenges schools face in creating real-time development programs is a lack of qualified instructors to teach them. This is why we’re excited to announce the addition of Curricular Frameworks, robust and thorough guides that help any educator, regardless of Unity experience, teach real-time 3D development in a variety of in-demand fields, including game development, AR and VR development, and AEC. 

The frameworks outline clear learning objectives to prepare students to use Unity in a professional setting. The result of close collaboration between Unity and industry experts, Curricular Frameworks identify the key tasks an entry-level developer would be expected to undertake in their field. The frameworks are aligned with Unity Certification exam objectives so that educators can support students in showcasing their expertise and readiness for their first professional role.

Our team will continue to expand the disciplines covered by Curricular Frameworks. Later this year we will introduce guides to support teaching Unity for AI and machine learning.

Deep discounts on Unity products

Many schools have had to tighten their budgets due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we know that our member schools want to access the latest software while keeping costs down. 

This is why we’re introducing a special discount of up to 70% on Unity products such as Unity Pro, Unity MARS to create intelligent AR experiences, Unity Reflect for real-time 3D design reviews, and more.

Unity Reflect

More Unity Certifications

Unity Certifications are a result of close collaboration between Unity, hiring managers, and testing-design specialists. Certifications test the core skills needed for a variety of jobs so that students can validate their expertise and showcase their readiness for a professional role using Unity. 

UAA members will now get access to up to $33,600 worth of certification exams, practice tests, and courseware. We have also expanded certifications to include six exams across three levels – Associate, Professional, and Expert. The Unity Certified Associate level of certifications is the best match for most postsecondary students, while the Professional and Expert levels are a good fit for students and faculty with advanced Unity skills.

For faculty who may be new to Unity or students following a Unity curriculum, Unity Certification courseware and practice tests are excellent resources to help them upskill and prepare to become Unity certified. 

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Interested in developing innovative programs at your school? Learn more about the Unity Academic Alliance, including the full range of member benefits and answers to frequently asked questions.

January 25, 2021 in News | 3 min. read

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