By Natalie Schwartz

Western Governors is gearing up to launch another cloud computing degree next year with an AWS specialization.

Igonor hopes to bring other vendors into the fold as well. Eventually, he’d like the university to add degree specializations for Microsoft and Google products.

He envisions students being able to choose among the specializations, as needed. “If you’re in an industry where Google is really what they’re using, you’ll go through the generic program and add a Google certification,” Igonor said. “Same thing if you’re an AWS shop.”

Institutions that mostly cater to working adult learners, which includes Western Governors, have been more open to working with a company to craft curriculum, said Michael Horn, a senior strategist at Guild Education, which offers a platform for companies to provide tuition benefits. Regional comprehensive universities, whose curricula tends to straddle job training and traditional education, may also be willing partners, he said.

Still other colleges may want to join forces with a company to help keep pace with the fast-changing job market, Horn said.