Change your story with Merit America
Discover how Amy transformed her life with Merit America. As a single mom with a demanding job, she found a path to a fulfilling career—now, it’s your turn to empower your future.
Without a degree, Amy felt stuck and out of options.
Amy worked as a truck operator, raising her daughter on her own. She’d thought about going back to school — but with bills that wouldn’t quit and no time to spare, every door looked closed.
“Being a single mom with bills that never stop, I felt there was no way out.”
She had no time for a degree and no money for short-term tech programs. Her future, as far as she could see, was fixed.
She made the time — and put in the work.
Amy didn’t have a free schedule. She had a daycare run, a daytime shift at Amazon, and a daughter who needed her. So she built her training into the cracks.
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117Hours of technical training
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90Hours of career coaching
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1Google IT Support Certificate earned
How Merit America made it possible
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1The hard skills employers need
Amy thought she needed a degree, but our tracks armed her with the exact blend of theory and applied experience she needed to change industries.
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2A portfolio that showed her value
Capstone projects, resume rewrites, and mock interviews helped Amy translate her experience into the language employers were looking for.
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3Job search support that kept going
With her Career Coach and lifetime access to Coursera, Amy landed her first role and went on to earn her Google Data Analytics Certificate.
Inside Amy’s calendar as a learner
Around 20 hours of learning a week sounds like a lot — until you see how she fit it around real life. The teal blocks are when she studied.
The work paid off — and kept paying off.
Amy started as a PC Technician at TekSystems. Today, five years on, she’s a Data Analyst in a supervisory role — working remotely with a flexible schedule, earning $80,000 more than she did before Merit America.
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Amy got her money up (even more than $24k). -
She’s building data expertise in public. -
And she knows how she got here.
For me, Merit was everything. You don’t need a bachelor’s degree to make bachelor’s degree money. Many people would’ve counted me out, but Merit looked past me and saw me as a human who needed a chance.— Amy Laird, Merit America Alumni
Ready to write your own career story?
Amy’s path is one of thousands. Here’s what your version could look like — and the four steps it takes to get started.
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1ApplyTell us a bit about yourself and the kind of career you want to build. The application takes about 10 minutes.
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2Choose your trackPick a Career Track that fits your goals — from IT Support to Data Analytics to UX Design and more.
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3Get the supportWork with a dedicated coach, build real projects, and earn an industry credential — all on a part-time schedule.
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4Land the jobUse job search support, alumni networks, and lifetime Coursera access to land — and grow into — a new career.