Dive Brief:

• Adtalem Global Education, which has been expanding its professional education programs, made another move in that direction on Monday with the announcement it will work with Northeastern University to develop a non-degree, certificate-bearing business course in artificial intelligence (AI) for financial services.
• Offered online beginning this summer through the D'Amore-McKim School of Business, the two-to-four-week course is designed for "professional students," said Christina Jaracz, executive director of corporate learning practice for the business school, in an email to Education Dive. 
• Adtalem will set the price for the program as well as provide "the distribution channels, technology and go-to-market expertise" through its financial services education properties, Jaracz said. Northeastern will provide the course content and subject matter expertise.

Dive Insight:

The course will be available in several modes, Jaracz said, including for individual self-paced learning as well as for companies to purchase and offer to their employees. Additionally, she said, "it can be tailored to include online or on-site facilitation from faculty members" for corporate clients.

It is the first of several educational offerings expected through the partnership, which could include other AI courses, workshops, seminars and leadership development programs. 

"As opportunities arise, Northeastern will partner with Adtalem to support corporate partners who want both scalable and tailored learning on AI and related topics," Jaracz said.

The announcement follows Adtalem's acquisition last month of OnCourse Learning's financial services education business. Like other former for-profit college operators, Adtalem, which recently sold off its DeVry University, is expanding its educational services, focusing on its medical, financial services and health care segments.

Zovio, formerly Bridgepoint Education, has made similar moves as it attempts to spin off its Ashford University and build up its educational services portfolio with a boot camp, a tutoring platform and, company executives say, possibly an OPM.

Institutions expanding educational offerings for professionals are taking a range of approaches. Some, like Northeastern, are partnering with an online program manager that can provide scale and the ability to acquire students in a specific market segment. Those with large online programs — such Arizona State University and Purdue University — have developed relationships with private firms to advance learning for their employees, a move observers say can alleviate high student acquisition costs.

Others are working with employers, such as Facebook and Google, that have developed educational programming for institutions to offer for credit.