“This would not have been possible if I had not decided to upskill and I will always be thankful to Cisco Networking Academy, to my faculties for their guidance and to EdCreateFoundation.”

-Kishan, Java Developer and Cisco Networking Academy Alum, West Bengal, India

Partnerships with governments, academic institutions, NGOs, and other organizations make the Cisco Networking Academy program possible. We continue to grow this network. Some of our academies support underrepresented communities, including women, rural populations, people with disabilities, veterans, and persons within the justice system. Our ecosystem of partners helps to grow skilled workforces to power a competitive digital economy. To help ensure inclusive access, Cisco Networking Academy’s curriculum and tools are free to eligible education partners.

For example, we signed a memorandum of understanding in 2019 with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for Digital Transformation Centers to train underserved communities with digital skills. See more on our global impact.

Skilled and passionate instructors are essential to Cisco Networking Academy’s success. We offer comprehensive professional development and training for our instructors throughout the year. The Instructor Professional Development program is designed to help ensure our instructor community is well-trained on the latest Cisco Networking Academy curriculum while being up-to-speed with the most relevant technological advancements in areas such as networking and automation, cybersecurity, data science, and programming. Instructors have access to a variety of communities within Cisco where they interact directly and share insights with product teams and peer experts. Additionally, feedback from instructors on program direction and enhancements is collected through surveys and instructor advisory boards around the world. This data collection also helps us understand the impact of Cisco Networking Academy on instructors’ lives and careers.

1 Based on Instructor Survey participants in fiscal 2023 who were actively teaching

“I recommend Cisco’s networking fundamentals training to anyone who wants to work in the field of IT, and CCNA Routing and Switching and Cisco security training to those who want to work in the field of networking or cybersecurity.”

- Cihat Emlik, SOC Continuous Security Monitoring Team Leader and Cyber Security Incident Responder, Bachelor of Management Information Systems, Master of Computer Forensics, Cisco Networking Academy Instructor, Turkey

Our technology and education experts design skills-to-jobs curriculum and experiences to support people on their learning journeys, from curiosity through career development. We continue to innovate to keep our curriculum relevant as industry needs evolve and learning technology enables new ways to facilitate effective learning.

As a leader in technology, Cisco brings our industry expertise in areas like networking and automation, cybersecurity, data science, and programming to develop high-quality learning backed by learning science. Courses are developed with the end in mind: the skills to get jobs. We translate those skills into learning objectives and then build purpose-driven, practice-oriented courses aligned to industry-recognized certifications to prepare learners with transferable, vendor-neutral skills. For example, learners get practical experience through leading-edge remote and hands-on learning with physical equipment and the powerful network simulation tool Cisco Packet Tracer.

The program is available to a range of learners—from young adult to lifelong learner—including those pursuing higher education, seeking a new career path, or wanting to gain tech skills. It is delivered through universities, colleges, high schools, NGOs, governments, and directly to learners through our education platforms, allowing the program to reach diverse learners in 190 countries. With 34.5 percent of our 3.7 million participants in fiscal 2023 from the Americas, 28 percent from APJC, and 37.5 percent from EMEA, Cisco Networking Academy is making major strides to help address the global technology skills gap. The program is:

Visit netacad.com for more student success stories.

“As a nontraditional student with no background in technology, I was impressed with the hands-on labs and Cisco Packet Tracer. These tools and methods allowed me to see and understand networks at every layer. This, coupled with the security classes, allowed me to grow my interest in cybersecurity and understand how it impacts every part of a functional network.”

– Amanda, Cybersecurity Analyst and Cisco Networking Academy Alum

The EdCreate Foundation, a Cisco Networking Academy partner based in India, works to bridge the digital skills gap. Underserved communities are at the heart of the foundation’s mission, with up to 80 percent of students coming from such backgrounds. The foundation’s vision is to ensure equitable education for all by leveraging technology and technical education to build a skilled workforce that can accelerate the country’s digital economy. In fiscal 2023 the foundation achieved a significant milestone, having trained over 100,000 students in India, making it the largest Cisco Networking Academy partner in the country.