Getting started with SAS Skill Builder for Students

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We recently introduced you to SAS Skill Builder for Students, a new online learning portal where college and university students can access free software, e-learning, guided certification exam prep, an exam discount, and career resources.

This week we want to help you get started. After registering for Skill Builder, you’ll be taken directly into the portal. There, you’ll see three tabs: Learn SAS, Get SAS Certified and Career Resources. The place to begin is the Learn SAS tab.

If you’re brand new to SAS, click on Get Tips in the Help me get started box. Here you’ll find information about our two free learning software options – SAS OnDemand for Academics and SAS Viya for Learners – and recommendations regarding courses and certification pathways that meet your goals. Whether you are interested in coding, a more intuitive way to explore data, or learning how to turn data into compelling stories through data visualizations, there is a course and a pathway for you. 

When you’re ready start learning, click on I want to build analytics skills. This will take you to a list of learning pathways: Programming; Visual Analytics and Visual Statistics; Statistical Analysis, Predictive Modeling, and Machine Learning; Foundational Skills; and JMP Statistical Analysis. Click the plus sign next to the topic that interests you to see the associated e-learning courses and certification pathways. If you want to see all the e-learning Skill Builder offers in a single view, click Expand All in the upper right corner.

Another great place to start your learning is Data Literacy Essentials. You’ll find this free e-learning course in Skill Builder under Foundational Skills. Data Literacy Essentials features six modules and introduces data basics, as well as what it means to be data-literate. It teaches strategies for seeing the usefulness in data, interrogating data, discovering meaning, making decisions and communicating data. The course also focuses on the ethical challenges of working with data. 

Upon completion of any e-learning course in Skill Builder, you will earn a digital badge that you can add to your online profiles. Badges demonstrate your knowledge to future employers. We’ll talk more about earning badges and getting SAS certified in our next post.