Udacity Advantage: What is a Nanodegree Program?
Udacity is an online global community for young learners from all around the globe to delve into the world of technology. With its vast array of online courses to choose from. These courses are put together for all curious minds looking forward to establishing a career in the field of computer sciences. Udacity’s course catalog is bifurcated into two categories, that are the Free Courses and the Nanodegree Programs. Both of these categories have clear-cut differences in the way they approach and offer to the learner.
Nanodegree Programs are industry-recognized credential designed for students to advance their skills or get new jobs. With the collective effort of our expert teams and industry leaders, Nanodegree Programs are curated to provide a hands-on learning experience of upcoming and current computer technologies. Our Nanodegree Programs are built in-collaboration with, and valued by, industry leaders like Google, Facebook, AT&T, Salesforce, GitHub, and more.
They focus extensively on job-readiness and cover every fundamental skill required to becoming successful in your career. The Nanodegree Programs heavily concentrate on current industry requirements and job outcomes. The Nanodegree Programs are divided into topic-wise modules which in turn comprise of short video lectures, exercises, quizzes, and projects to augment the comprehension of the topic. The courses are taught by highly scholarly instructors who have relevant industrial experience. Industry-relevant in the curriculum ensure that the students are ready to take up industrial challenges. The Nanodegree programs enable students to interact one-on-one with various industry specialists who are our Experts-In-Residence as a form of mentorship support to the students. Students will have the opportunity to engage in weekly office hours sessions with these highly-skilled individuals. After successful completion of a nanodegree programs, we link the graduates to our various hiring partners which allows them to get directly hired and advance in their careers.
Most common queries:
We also figured it would be helpful to answers to some of the most popular Udacity-related questions from around the Web. We hope this helps answer your inquiries about the Nanodegree programs.
What is the cost difference between a free course and a Nanodegree?
A Free Course costs not even a single dime. Nanodegree programs feature cutting-edge online curriculum built with industry leaders and taught by expert instructors. One-on-one coaching, moderated forums, and project review ensure a personalized experience. Graduates earn an industry-recognized credential and benefit from extensive career support.
What is the duration for a Nanodegree Program?
Our ultimate goal is student outcomes. Nanodegree Programs have a fixed timeline which they strictly follow and it needs to be completed within this period. However, projects may be submitted at any time during the Nanodegree, and individual project deadlines are recommendations, not requirements. So within the Nanodegree, there is opportunity to learn at your own pace. You should plan to follow our recommended timeline, as this will best enable you to keep pace with your peers, and complete the program on time.
Why is the Nanodegree course content valuable?
Our Nanodegree Programs are credential programs built with, and valued by, industry leaders like Google, Facebook, AT&T, Salesforce, GitHub, and more.
What kind of course content can I expect?
The level of instruction in both the types of courses varies greatly. While a free course is a good start to gaining basic knowledge on a particular topic, this level is taken up several notches with the renowned Nanodegree Programs. The medium of instruction is pre-recorded video lectures which have closed captioning. The degree of difficulty and content relevance is what makes a nanodegree superior to the free courses. The lectures are assisted by interactive quizzes, exercises and industry-relevant projects that assess the students carefully in Nanodegree Programs.
How will projects help my career and provide me an edge over not doing any?
The industry-relevant projects in the Nanodegree curriculum ensure that the students are ready to take up industrial challenges. These projects are carefully designed to impart practical knowledge. Once successfully completed and added to the student’s GitHub profile, it adds a great value to profile of the student.
What kind of classroom support can I expect?
Mentorship support is absent in free courses. A student enrolled in a nanodegree can interact one-on-one with their course instructor and clarify doubts. This individual attention on the student enables the student to comprehend the topics better. Mentorship support is provided in the form of Study Groups, a new and more advanced way to connecting students and mentors. Study Groups is a social learning model for students that want to truly immerse themselves in the student experience. Students that participate in Study Groups will form a sub-cohort that have their own private social community in the Classroom, with certified mentors. Along with Study Groups, we have introduced an online forum called Knowledge. It is a student-driven help experience that surfaces the most relevant questions and answers. Quality and relevance is ensured by upvotes of questions and answers.
How is the course different from other online learning platforms?
The Nanodegree Programs are devised in such a way that it provides job-readiness to its graduates as per industry standards. Since the curriculum focuses primarily on what kind skills are necessary in the market. These programs are highly detail oriented and focuses on overall understanding of a topic. Nanodegree Programs also focus highly on overall student experience and has multiple interventions to push students towards graduation like mentorship, student collaboration tools such as Knowledge and Study groups, and personalized project reviews.
How is the foundational Nanodegree program different from advanced Nanodegree program?
While a nanodegree makes an individual well versed in a field but some topics like Machine Learning which are extremely vast might take some more time and follow-up courses. Foundational Nanodegree programs is designed to provide the student foundational skills and do not make one job-ready. Advance Nanodegree programs are imperative for being employable in such a competitive market.
Can I get a job after graduating from a Nanodegree?
Nanodegree makes an individual capable of getting a job in their desirable field. Udacity connects students to its long list of hiring partners. We, at Udacity, have partnerships with over 100+ companies who have hired several Nanodegree graduates in the past. We connect our graduates regularly to our hiring partners through Propel.
Is Nanodegree equivalent to a college degree?
No. We are not accredited to UGC or AICTE. Whereas, we have various partnerships with industry experts. The industry requires a certain level of qualification for competing for a job profile and a Nanodegree program certification acts as a valuable credential. The Nanodegree Program makes a student job ready. Education is a personal preference and we do not encourage our students to skip college.
Do I get some monetary support?
No, we do not provide any monetary support. Students also have an option to pay the fee in installments through EMI on leading credit cards. We are also working towards bringing in more payment options that will help our students.
What is Udacity Propel and who are eligible for Udacity Propel?
We regularly host our renowned Career Fair called Udacity Propel. All graduates of career-ready Nanodegree Programs are automatically eligible for Propel. Through this we connect our graduates to our potential hiring partners. In Nanodegree Programs with two terms, you must complete your term 2 to become eligible for Propel.
