SNHU Advances Workforce Skilling with New Professional Skills Microcredentials

Manchester, N.H. (February 23, 2026) - Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) is expanding access to accelerated, immersive, and personalized professional learning through its Professional Skills microcredentials designed to help working adults build in-demand skills quickly and immediately apply them in the workplace.

“As employers increasingly seek adaptable talent with practical, verified skills, we’ve continued to develop our catalog of microcredential and non-credit learning opportunities,” said Marcy Vadurro, Associate VP Strategic Foresight, SNHU. “Many adult learners are already in the workforce or well-established in their careers and these innovative Professional Skills courses help them sharpen their skills and level up at a time of rapid change.”

Built with flexibility and workforce relevance in mind, SNHU’s Professional Skills offerings represent a new model of professional development. These six-week, self-paced online courses combine hands-on learning with verified skill certification, offering learners tangible outcomes without the time commitment of traditional academic programs. The non-credit bearing courses include instruction, applied content, and coaching and evaluation from both AI-powered and experienced human coaches.

“By using AI to coach learners inside realistic role-plays in addition to human Skills Coaches, we’re able to deepen understanding, personalize feedback at scale, and guide people toward stronger skill execution in real time,” Vadurro said. “That shift—from theory or content-heavy offerings to active, AI-guided practice—is where the future of workforce development is headed.”

As an organization committed to lifelong learning, SNHU piloted its first Professional Skills microcredential, Generative AI: Concept to Innovation, to its own employees to gather feedback and make improvements before launching to the public. To date, more than 600 SNHU employees have successfully earned a microcredential through Professional Skills and have been issued digital badges, providing visibility and transparency in their achievements and the skills they have acquired. The Generative AI microcredential has been approved as credit for prior learning at the university, meaning successful learners can apply their badge for up to nine credits to accelerate their path into or within a degree program.

In addition to in-demand technical skills such as generative AI and data literacy, the Professional Skills offerings include human skills, which continue to be at the top of employer needs when looking at the future of work. Human skills, such as adaptability, emotional intelligence and influence, transcend industries and differentiate workers in an AI-enabled world.

“Careers are no longer linear, and learning can’t be either,” Vadurro said. “By serving learners before, during, and long after a degree, SNHU is meeting professionals at every door of their learning journey. Skills will keep evolving, which means growth mindset isn’t just a concept—it’s a necessity. Our role is to help learners and employers adapt together, at the pace the world now demands.”

The Professional Skills offerings are uniquely positioned to serve both learners and employers who need to quickly deploy skills across teams. Employers are able to schedule exclusive cohorts and have confidence that their teams are leaving with actionable, authentic, and relevant projects and skills that can be applied immediately to their work.

Current Professional Skills course offerings at SNHU include:

• Generative AI: Concept to Innovation – Unlock the power of generative AI to enhance creativity, efficiency, and problem-solving in your professional life.
• Human-Centered Design Thinking: Empathy to Solutions – Gain the skills and confidence needed to inspire action, influence decisions and deliver results that matter—to your customers, your colleagues and your organization.
• Data Literacy: Exploration to Storytelling – Develop the confidence to understand, analyze, and communicate data—turning information into insights that drive evidence-based decisions at work.
• Emotional Intelligence: Foundations to Connections – Build the self-awareness, empathy, and communication skills needed to lead with confidence, strengthen relationships, and help teams thrive at work.
• Adaptability: Insight to Resilience – Build the awareness, agility and resilience required to perform at a high level amid constant change—strengthening decision-making, accelerating execution and sustaining effectiveness in today’s fast-moving workplace.
• Advanced Generative AI: Innovation to Transformation – Design custom GPTs, build AI agents and create integrated workflows that push the boundaries of what’s possible with generative AI, advancing creativity, experimentation and technological innovation at work.

Learn more about SNHU’s Professional Skills programs at skills.snhu.edu.

Siobhan Lopez is a former journalist, who is now the director of media relations at Southern New Hampshire University.