CompTIA offers free AI training for 100 high school teachers

CompTIA and the National Applied Artificial Intelligence (AI) Consortium announced a national initiative to provide free online training for 100 high school teachers to build foundational AI literacy and to integrate AI concepts into existing coursework.

CompTIA framed the effort with research findings that showed 94% of organizations were at least somewhat likely to invest in AI-specific training this year and that 82% of companies had growing expectations for AI implementations to deliver value.

The self-paced curriculum was delivered entirely online and included two courses. CompTIA AI Essentials addressed foundational topics such as Generative AI (GenAI) and chatbots like ChatGPT, Copilot and Gemini, effective prompting, responsible use of data and practical use cases. CompTIA AI Prompting Essentials developed prompt-writing, automation and responsible AI skills.

A competency assessment closed each course and evaluated practical skills, with learners who passed earning a CompTIA CompCert (Competency Certificate). The partners described the inaugural cohort as 100 teachers who received no-cost access to CompTIA AI skills training and support.

“AI is quickly becoming a baseline skill across every career pathway,” said Mark Plunkett, executive vice president, sales and go-to-market strategy, CompTIA. “Educators are on the front lines of preparing students for meaningful employment opportunities. Together with our partners at NAAIC, we're helping teachers bring real-world AI concepts into the classroom.”

The organizations set an application deadline of March 11, 2026; acceptance notifications were scheduled for April 1, 2026; live welcome sessions Radio Access Network (RAN) April 7–9, 2026; and the training window RAN April 7–May 29, 2026.