Objective: Remove every possible barrier to education

In order to minimize as many barriers as possible when it comes to living in poverty, accepted students received a full tuition scholarship, a laptop, a coworking space membership, a student stipend, and a student success representative to help students navigate barriers and hurdles they faced during the program.

To help inform these decisions, we asked our students two things during the screening process:

1. Will you require any services for the program?
2. What are some challenges that you might have throughout the duration of the program? How can we help address and solve them?

Objective: Help ensure 100% student graduation rate from the program

We're committed to having all of our students accepted into the program graduate. Our first cohort had a 92% graduation rate from the full 24-week program.

Objective: Generate job and wealth creation in Central New York

Instructors will teach students the skills they require to receive internships and entry level software development positions. Measured every 30 days following the graduation of each cohort.

Objective: Organize and execute events throughout the program

Throughout the course of the program, we organized several networking events for our students. We would often dedicate Tuesday’s class to attend developer meetups to get involved in the local tech community. Our students interacted with local technologists and helped to improve their communication skills, facilitate connections, and potential employment opportunities.

We hosted guest speakers and invited them to join us before class as well as at our networking events. They shared their experiences working in the industry and provided insight into how students can be successful. More importantly, they inspired students, provided encouragement, and demonstrated what goes into becoming a successful software developer.

Objective: Provide quality community engagement

Social media and marketing is a critical component of our program. It is necessary to make prospective applicants, instructors, and partners aware of the promote as well as to promote existing partners and highlight the value they bring to the program.

Objective: Explore and develop strategic partnerships

Creating and operating a coding bootcamp that will teach computer programming to women and minorities from distressed communities can’t be done alone. It requires long-term, strategic partners who will support the program and benefit from its sustained success. Strategic partners have been instrumental to Hack Upstate over the years. We’re extremely fortunate to have so many partners involved in our first cohort of Careers in Code that were critical to our success.