Flatiron School, an education innovator and WeWork company, teaching students in-demand tech skills like software engineering, data science, cybersecurity, and UX/UI design, today announced a national scholarship program named Access Scholarship. The goal of this program is to remove barriers to entry for high-potential members of underrepresented communities and empower them to launch meaningful careers in the tech industry.
Increasing access to high-quality tech education is the cornerstone of Flatiron School’s mission. In 2018, the school piloted a software engineering program run from its Brooklyn, NY campus dedicated to opening paths to lucrative tech careers for individuals making less than $35,000 annually. Students were able to defer tuition until after graduation and only began making tuition re-payments once they were earning an income. Since its founding in 2018, Flatiron School’s Access Labs program successfully graduated students able to land jobs in tech, with the average full-time salary for the most recent class included in Flatiron School’s 2019 Jobs Report being $78,477 (for job-seeking students who disclosed their compensation).
Flatiron School’s Access Scholarship aims to build on that success and re-imagine what the tech industry might look like if the barriers to access were removed, giving applicants with a talent for tech the opportunity to build a meaningful career, regardless of race, income or gender. The scholarship, which starts accepting applications on Tuesday, February 11, 2020, across all Flatiron School campuses, will use the same rigorous admissions process the school uses for other applicants, to vet passion and aptitude for a career in technology. Over the course of 2020, 500 on-campus applicants will receive this scholarship, empowering them to take advantage of Flatiron School’s proven, jobs-focused education model to transform their lives. Similar to Access Labs, this scholarship will also offer students the option to defer tuition costs by providing $3,000 to each awardee to help cover the initial deposit for enrollment. To qualify, students must:
- Have a household income below their area’s median income, or;
- Be part of an under-represented group in tech (including women, racial/ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ people, or veterans)
“The skills gap in technical fields like programming and data science is showing no signs of going away, even as structural unemployment is set to increase in the coming years,” said Adam Enbar, CEO of Flatiron School. “Our hope with this scholarship — and others like it — is to widen the pool of high-quality tech talent available to hiring companies, and ensure that the opportunity to have a meaningful career in technology is distributed as evenly across the country as people’s skills and passion for the field.”
This launch comes on the heels of two other programs that Flatiron School announced recently, also in a mission to democratize access to tech careers amongst marginalized groups. One of which, in partnership with the Cognizant U.S. Foundation — a 501(c)(3) private foundation supporting STEM education and skills training across the United States, launched the NexTech 100 scholarship. The NexTech 100 will award $1.2M to a group of 100 students, from either a high-need or underrepresented background, to equip them with the skills to join the tech workforce.
To learn more about these new scholarships, or to apply, please visit flatironschool.com/access.
About Flatiron School
Flatiron School is an education innovator teaching students in-demand tech skills like software engineering, data science, cybersecurity, and UX/UI design. When it comes to landing a job, Flatiron School graduates have a proven track record of success thanks to expert instructors, dedicated career coaches, and a tuition-back promise (see details at flatironschool.com/terms). Flatiron School’s mission is to enable the pursuit of a better life through education.
Media Contacts
Puneet Sandhu
Mission North for Flatiron School
flatironschool@missionnorth.com
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