Wayne State University plans to start using Microsoft Corp.'s professional curriculum in courses to make students more competitive in the job market.

New Microsoft-built tools, software and coursework ideas are coming to Wayne State through a partnership with the Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant. The public university based in Midtown Detroit is among 10-12 institutions Microsoft expects to participate in a pilot program. Wayne States is among the first to officially join.

The pilot initiative uses Microsoft Professional Program curriculum to build employability skills for increasingly needed technical positions — cloud computing or cybersecurity, for example, Microsoft's Karen Kocher said in an email. Kocher is the company's global general manager of 21st century jobs, skills and employability.

Wayne State aims to start classes this fall that incorporate Microsoft Professional Program tools, Provost Keith Whitfield said. The university will work with interested faculty to add certain elements to existing classes. That could mean teaching soft skills in a new way, using more high-tech programs in the classroom or converting a straight lecture class into more of a hybrid between lectures, group work and online study.

The curriculum areas and professors to participate in the pilot haven't been solidified. But something like offering a certificate in Microsoft spreadsheet software Excel or an introduction to the programming language Python could be used in any number of courses. And there's a direct sight line between accruing that knowledge and qualifying for a job somewhere like Quicken Loans Inc. or Google, Whitfield said.

"One of the ways in which you're going to make a 21st century education is through public-private partnerships," Whitfield said. "We have a lot of interest and focus on making sure our degrees are degrees students can use to enter the workforce or improve their status in the workforce. It makes sense you'd want to know what potential employers want to see out of students. Make sure they're learning the kind of things that'll make them competitive."

Microsoft is providing its professional tools at no cost to Wayne State, according to Whitfield.

"Wayne State is a premier urban research institution which shares a similar vision about how to prepare students for the future of work," Kocher said in an email. "Additionally, it is located in Detroit, one of the United States' major urban areas going through a broad transformation."