New Initiatives in High-Tech Education
Nowadays whether at work or at home, we are all spending more and more time on our smart phone, tablet, or laptop, or some combination of the three. So it makes sense that the digital age has ushered in an increasing number of software development and design jobs in areas such as social media, mobile apps, ecommerce, cyber security, and cloud software.
All of this sounds like good news. Yet despite this rosy picture, not everyone has been benefiting equally from the emerging digital economy. The great digital divide between the college educated computer science / design students who find dream jobs at high-tech startups and the lower income millennials who do not complete college or who are unable to attend college at all has left vast swaths of the U.S. population without work. Not to mention the college graduates who find themselves with degree in hand and a lovely liberal arts education, yet strangely lacking the practical technical skills that employers seem to be looking for.
Over the past decade there has been a marked increase in awareness of the significant economic and social challenges that we face because of the digital divide. This has led to a variety of innovative private and public initiatives that have proven to be surprisingly effective at paving the path towards a well-paying job. Through low-cost and in some case free short-term high-tech education, a significant number of people have been getting the education they need to get their first job at a technology company as a web/mobile app developer, web designer, cybersecurity developer, or social media expert.
Short-Term High-Tech Training Companies
One viable option for someone hoping to break into a high-tech field is to attend a privately run “coding boot-camp” school. These schools provide short-term software development training at a relatively low cost.
The coding boot camp model takes intensive language learning and pushes it into a new take on computer programming education. This model has become increasingly popular in recent years and has given rise to over 100 privately run boot-camp schools throughout the U.S. Some of the most popular include Flatiron School, App Academy, and General Assembly. Many of these educational companies offer courses in multiple cities in the U.S. and feature a hybrid of online and on-site courses, in some cases with evening and weekend courses available. In addition, many provide career counseling, assistance developing a project portfolio, and job placement services.
TechHire Program: Federal Grants for Multi-Sector Training
In March 2015, President Obama announced the new federal TechHire program for 21 communities working with 300 employers throughout the U.S. This program allocated $100 million in federal grants for innovative multi-sector high-tech educational and job placement initiatives that were targeted to low-income and under-served populations in the U.S. This included unemployed youth in low-income areas, veterans, and Americans with disabilities, among others. An impressive $50 million of that funding was targeted specifically at people aged 19-29 who were out of work and not in school. In 2016, the funding of this program increased to $150 million, allowing the number of communities involved in this program to expand from 21 to more than 40.
To this day the federal TechHire initiative has remained strong. The TechHire grants have been awarded to communities in cities, states, and rural areas that had developed innovative programs for combining federal, state, and local programs, together with private contributions and corporate partnerships. In each community, part of the TechHire program includes free or low-cost high-tech education through online or on-site courses at universities and community colleges and/or intensive training at coding boot camps. The second part of each TechHire program includes placement in paid internships and jobs at partnering technology companies.
The following are three examples of programs that are currently receiving federal TechHire funding:
TechHire Oakland
The TechHire initiative in Oakland, CA offers free/low-cost technology training for young adult residents in the Oakland area. This program is extraordinary in that it provides training in five technology career tracks: Software Development; UI/UX Design; Marketing/Sales; IT Cybersecurity; and Hardware Manufacturing. This training is provided by over 20 private technology training companies. For example the training company Treehouse provides a low-cost 6-month coding training program with a full scholarship available to qualified applicants. Web development and video game development training courses are offered through Hack the Hood and Gamehead. Other paid training programs are offered through companies such as HackReactor, UC Berkeley Extension, and Rithm School, each of which provide financial assistance to qualified applicants. In addition to technology training, TechHire Oakland offers a mentorship program as well as instruction on how to build a work portfolio. After completing one of the training programs, students work with a career placement program to find jobs and paid apprenticeships. This program has successfully led to a large number of apprenticeships and jobs at 79 technology companies in the Oakland area including LinkedIn, Twilio, and GitHub.
New York City LaGuardia TechHire - OpenCode
In New York City, the LaGuardia TechHire – OpenCode program is a partnership between LaGuardia Community College and two private software development training companies, The Software Guild and Udacity. In addition, Uncubed provides job placement services. This TechHire program offers web development and network computer support courses, and tuition-free scholarships are available to eligible students aged 17-29. Graduates of this program have gone on to work at companies such as Google, Viacom, Infosys, Adobe, and others.
Minneapolis St Paul Tech Hire
The Minneapolis St Paul (MSP) TechHire initiative provides IT Core Skills training to Minnesota residents in Minneapolis and St Paul. This is a free 10-week online program with a weekly learning lab available to adults 18 or older. Additional advanced IT training courses with scholarships are also available. In addition to training, this program provides career counseling and placement in internships and jobs at partnering companies. Since 2015 over 1800 graduates have found jobs at one of the program’s 500 employer partners.