UPC strengthens graduate employability at scale with Coursera
- Industry:
Higher Education
- Location:
Peru
- Size:
9,957 employees
- Topics:
Employability, AI and Digital Skills, Lifelong Learning, Learning Excellence, Skills Transformation
OVERVIEW
Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC) set out to prepare students, graduates, faculty, and staff for a labor market increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, digital transformation, data analytics, and the growing importance of verifiable credentials. The university’s objective extended beyond expanding access to online learning. UPC sought to modernize curricula, strengthen employability, democratize access to global content, and build a sustainable culture of lifelong learning.
Through its partnership with Coursera, UPC developed a comprehensive 360° learning ecosystem that integrated global content, digital certifications, learning pathways, AI-powered tools, and data-driven academic support. Today, Coursera is embedded across undergraduate programs, graduate education, faculty development, staff learning, alumni initiatives, continuing education, and social-impact programs.
“The partnership with Coursera enabled Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC) to address these priorities through learning pathways, digital certifications, content from leading global universities and companies, and artificial intelligence tools. In addition, by leveraging Coursera reports, UPC has built a data-driven academic support model that transforms access into achievement, and achievement into real impact.”
—Milagros Morgan, Rector
THE CHALLENGE
UPC recognized that traditional academic pathways alone were no longer sufficient to prepare learners for rapidly changing workforce demands. Students needed access to emerging skills in areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data analytics, digital business, leadership, and sustainability, while also developing credentials that could demonstrate those capabilities to employers.
At the same time, the institution needed a scalable model capable of serving multiple audiences with different learning goals. Undergraduate students, working professionals, graduate learners, faculty, staff, alumni, and external participants all required different experiences, support structures, and pathways.
UPC sought a solution that would strengthen employability, improve academic outcomes, increase operational efficiency, and provide evidence-based insights to guide institutional decision-making.
THE SOLUTION
To meet evolving workforce demands while serving diverse learner populations at scale, UPC implemented Coursera as a strategic learning infrastructure rather than a standalone platform.
This meant integrating Coursera content into credit-bearing undergraduate courses, blended learning experiences, graduate programs, faculty development, staff learning initiatives, digital certifications, Career Academy offerings, and social-impact programs. Learning pathways were tailored to specific audiences and linked to academic credits, professional development goals, or employability outcomes. This coordinated approach helped ensure each initiative served a defined purpose, helping learners build relevant skills while enabling the university to align learning investments with institutional priorities and workforce needs.
To support this enterprise-wide approach, UPC built a data-driven management model that combines Coursera analytics, institutional dashboards, Blackboard integration, Power BI reporting, automated communications, and personalized academic support. These capabilities allow the Online Learning team to monitor progress, identify at-risk learners, and provide targeted interventions across more than 600 active programs, improving consistency across the institution over time.
AI-powered tools also played an important role. Machine Translate expanded access by making Coursera content available in Spanish, while Coursera Coach, AI Grading, Course Builder, Learning Paths, and Program Builder helped improve learner support, accelerate academic design, and streamline program management. Together, these capabilities enabled UPC to scale learning while maintaining quality, relevance, and personalization across a rapidly growing learner population.
THE RESULTS
UPC’s Coursera ecosystem generated measurable outcomes across employability, academic success, and institutional effectiveness.
The strongest evidence comes from the university’s 2025 Impact Survey, which examined outcomes among students and graduates who had earned at least one Coursera certificate. The results demonstrated that digital credentials were translating into professional advancement. Of graduates, 71% reported improving their job position and/or salary, while 84% reported accessing new professional opportunities. Among students, 87% reported that their resume or LinkedIn profile became significantly more competitive, and 85% of non-employed students felt ready to access professional opportunities.
The impact was reinforced through individual learner success stories. Students directly applied their skills in cybersecurity, leadership, data analytics, communication, supply chain, and digital business in internships, professional projects, recruitment processes, and workplace environments. Faculty also strengthened their digital teaching capabilities and educational innovation practices through dedicated learning pathways.
Beyond employability, UPC strengthened its ability to deliver learning at scale. The institution built one of the region’s most comprehensive digital learning ecosystems while maintaining high levels of completion, retention, satisfaction, and operational efficiency. Coursera became more than a learning platform. It became a strategic enabler of academic quality, workforce readiness, innovation, and lifelong learning.
Milagros Morgan
Rector, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC)
“The results of the 2025 Impact Survey reaffirm that the strategy is well aligned. Among 2,018 individuals, including students in their final academic cycles and graduates who have earned at least one certificate through Coursera, the findings show that Coursera digital credentials are generating a direct impact on employability and skills development.”