TWO years since opening its school in Cebu, iAcademy Cebu is logging a 96 percent job placement rate for its graduates.
Mitch Andaya, vice president for academic affairs and college dean, said by offering specialized, industry-aligned programs in technology, design and business, the school is bridging the gap between academic learning and workforce demands, ensuring that students are not just educated—but employed.
He credited the school’s high employability rate to its courses designed to meet the demands of today’s workforce. Its sought-after programs include animation, multimedia arts and design, software engineering, game development and real estate management, which are experiencing strong local and global demand.
“We were offering programs that were not available in traditional universities. In iAcademy Makati, we were the first to offer a software engineering program, and now, in Cebu, we continue our mission of being a catalyst for innovative education,” said Andaya.
Beyond textbooks
A key factor in iAcademy Cebu’s high job placement rate is its faculty of active industry practitioners, ensuring students learn from experts who are directly engaged in their respective fields.
“We don’t want our faculty to teach just from textbooks. We want them to teach based on experience,” Andaya said. “Many employers say graduates from other schools do not meet industry requirements. We address this by bringing industry professionals into our classrooms.”
The school also goes beyond the standards set by the Commission on Higher Education by providing 500 to 600 additional hours of industry training, giving students a competitive edge in the job market. Beyond textbooks, the school also ensures students gain practical, real-world skills through its state-of-the-art facilities such as Cintiq and Lightbox rooms for digital and animation work; green room and multimedia labs for creative content production; advanced computer laboratories equipped with industry-standard software; and modern student lounge fostering collaboration and innovation
Additionally, students also benefit from access to over 250,000 e-books via EBSCO, further enhancing their learning experience.
iAcademy Cebu has grown to 235 students and 18 faculty members.
Located on the 5th floor of Filinvest Cebu Cyber Tower 2, its 1,500-square-meter campus can accommodate up to 500 students. With increasing demand, Andaya said the school plans to expand further, adding more floors to support its growing student base.
Academe-industry alliance
The business chambers in Cebu and Mandaue, have earlier emphasized the need for a stronger industry-academe linkage in today’s era of artificial intelligence and modern technologies. Both want the education sector to align academic programs with industry demands.
“There is a supply and demand imbalance. One area we need to focus on is aligning the academe with industry requirements,” said MCCI president Mark Anthony Ynoc.
“Better collaboration will ensure that the right graduates are produced to meet workforce demands, especially as we fully adopt AI,” he added.
In a separate interview, CCCI president Jay Yuvallos echoed Ynoc’s sentiments, stating that an industry-academe alliance is vital to ensure Cebu graduates are gainfully employed.
“Addressing skills mismatches among graduates is crucial,” Yuvallos said, noting due to the birth of advanced technologies such as AI, the demands of the industries have changed.
CCCI has already convened over 40 representatives from Cebu’s top colleges, universities, and technical-vocational institutions, alongside industry leaders for its first stakeholders’ meeting of the Academe-Industry Alliance. The meeting was aimed at aligning academic programs with industry needs, ensuring graduates are equipped with practical skills and real-world experience. / KOC