Courses

About Adobe Certification Courses

Adobe Certification Courses are 10-week courses taught by Adobe Experts. The courses take you through your chosen Adobe software, inside and out. At the end of the course, you’ll take the Adobe Certified Associate (ACA) exam to receive a certificate–hello, resume booster! Each course has a maximum of 32 spots.

ACA certification is an industry-recognized credential that can be used to effectively validate your skills in Adobe digital-media software. It represents the creative skills in demand today by industry and academia and reflects well when presented on a resume and/or LinkedIn Profile.

To see what is covered in each Certification Course, read more here.

Eligibility

Adobe Certification Courses are open to all current Annenberg students, including Majors, Minors, and students enrolled in an Annenberg class.

The course is free to all current Annenberg students, with the optional purchase of a textbook (specifically, the PhotoshopIllustratorInDesign, or Premiere Classroom-in-a-Book).

Registration

Students may sign up for Certification Courses in person at the Digital Lounge Help Desk in ANN 301. Registration will be open for the first two weeks of the semester, and students may take only one course at a time.

All interested students must present their USC Student ID with an “A” sticker as proof of Annenberg status before registering.

Auditing

Due to limited seat availability and our ACA Exam requirement, students are not permitted to audit Certification Courses at this time.

Equipment Requirements

To participate in the Certification Courses students must have a PC or Apple laptop that is capable of running the latest Adobe Creative Cloud software.

Adobe’s minimum hardware requirements:

  • Multicore processor with 64-bit support (Intel processor for Mac)
  • Mac OS X v.10.11 (or later)
  • Microsoft Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 (64 bit) or Windows 8 (64 bit), or Windows 10 (64 bit)
  • 8GB of Ram minimum (16GB recommended)
  • 8GB of available hard-disk space
  • 1280×800 resolution display minimum

Software Requirements

Certification Courses are taught based on the latest versions of Adobe Creative Cloud applications. All Annenberg students, including non-Annenberg majors enrolled in Annenberg courses, are eligible to receive access to Creative Cloud as long as they remain current Annenberg students.

Students may request a Creative Cloud invitation by submitting the Request Form on the Digital Lounge website’s Adobe page, here.

Attendance

Class size is limited and we want to ensure that seats go to students who will complete the course and earn their certification.

By registering for a Certification Course, students agree to attend all class sessions and take the ACA exam at the end of the course. Students will be considered absent 30 minutes after the start of class and missing more than 4 classes will result in you being dropped from the course, with the possibility of being banned from registering in the future.

Should an issue arise that causes an extended absence or prevents taking the exam, it is the student’s responsibility to contact the Annenberg Digital Lounge at AnnenbergDL@usc.edu to provide a reason.

No communication will result in being banned.

Course Withdrawal & Transfer

Students must notify the Digital Lounge of their intent to withdraw from a course, either in person or via email at AnnenbergDL@usc.edu. Failure to provide notice may result in the student being banned from taking a Certification Course in the future.

After registering, students may transfer to a different Certification course before the first class session provided there is an open seat in the desired class.

Non-discrimination Policy

The University of Southern California (USC) is committed to complying with all applicable laws and governmental regulations at every level of government which prohibit discrimination against, or which mandate that special consideration be given to, students, faculty, or staff on the basis of any protected category, including race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical disability, mental disability, marital status, veteran status, genetic information, or any other characteristic which may be specified in such laws and regulations. Accordingly, USC expects all who engage with our students to abide by all applicable laws, as well as comply with the spirit of such laws, follow ethical procedures, and model good behavior.

Reasonable accommodations will be made for qualified individuals with known disabilities unless doing so would result in an undue hardship. More information can be found at https://dsp.usc.edu/.

Course cancellation

The Digital Lounge reserves the right to cancel, reschedule, or combine classes due to insufficient enrollment, instructor scheduling, or space availability. Students registered for canceled or rescheduled classes may request to transfer to another class, provided space is available in the desired class.