Noncredit Courses

Types of Short (Noncredit) Courses

Currently, Global Campus offers three types of short, noncredit courses, which help students achieve different educational goals. These short courses  include the following:

Bridge Courses

These are short, intensive, preparatory online courses that help learners develop the knowledge and skills that are required to enter advanced study, such as an undergraduate program, graduate degree, or graduate certificate. Often, students who are provisionally accepted into a program must take these courses in order to enroll. These courses are also resources for those who want to review certain areas, such as algebra, statistics, and grammar.

Professional Development and Professional Learning Courses

Often known as continuing education and career training, professional development courses allow those in the workforce to

  • develop and/or hone skills (leadership, project development, conflict management, digital marketing strategies)
  • stay up-to-date on current trends (Lean/Six Sigma, Search Engine Optimization, automotive focus areas)
  • acquire specialized training (GIS, GPS)
  • develop strategies and resources for designing, teaching, and/or delivering courses or course materials (specific content, standards, approaches, methodologies)
  • gain relevant job-specific badges and certifications. (For instance, some employees are required to earn a certain number of professional education units (PEUs) per year.)

Specialized Corporate Education

These are short courses that are developed in collaboration with a specific corporate clients to provide essential knowledge, training, and skills for their workforces. For instance, an automobile company might collaborate with Michigan Tech Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to create a short course on control systems or hybrid electric vehicle drives.


Two guys figuring out a math problem.
"I appreciate the resources like video examples and checklists. Having a checklist while I’m trying to implement a new strategy like productive talk makes me feel like I have a road map for trying it!"Mi-STAR Teacher on the course Productive Talk
Two women chatting and problem-solving
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."William Butler Yeats