Flagler College and Code Institute have announced a partnership that will see the two institutions serve career-changers and up-skillers in the greater Jacksonville area. This is an effort on behalf of the two entities to meet local demand for people with software development skills, as software development is one of the fastest-growing employment sectors in the United States.
“Developing strong partnerships in territories we don’t directly serve is a key part of our growth strategy,” said Jim Cassidy, chief executive at the Code Institute. “We have traditionally served career-changers as well as those seeking code as a second skill. Adult & Continuing Education at Flagler College is committed to serving these learner types. That makes it a very attractive partnership for us.”
Jacksonville has one of the fastest-growing digital communities in the U.S. For Flagler College, the partnership with Code Institute represents an opportunity to increase the number of software developers available in the workforce and to afford lane-changers the opportunity to move into a highly employable career.
“We target our training and development programs to meet the increasingly sophisticated needs of today’s technology-fueled businesses, both locally in Florida and around the world,” said Director of Adult & Continuing Education at Flagler College, Jorge M. Herrera. “Through our expanded partnership with Code Institute, we are excited to offer our students and working professionals a comprehensive and innovative Certificate in Software Development.”
Code Institute was established in 2015 by co-founder Anthony Quigley who was inspired by the emergence of Bootcamp and skills-based learning as a dominant new trend in U.S. education. Quigley founded the Digital Marketing Institute and also runs conferences and events company 3XE Digital.
“Our goal is to make software development more accessible as a skill. We offer a range of pathways that can fit alongside a learner’s personal and professional commitments” said Cassidy, who joined the company in 2016, having been managing director at digital agency Isobar Dublin. “We saw that the classroom model worked well, but we wanted to take the in-class experience and enhance it online, so we needed to create our own courseware.”
Code Institute assembled an advisory council with industry representatives from companies including, Accenture, Salesforce, PayPal, Redhat and Project Foundry. Using the advice of the council on the most relevant skills, the start-up developed its credit-rated Fullstack Diploma in Software Development course.
“Our graduates have the skills needed to work as a software developer on completion of our course,” said Cassidy. “Our course is academically validated and recognized on the European Quality Framework.”
Code Institute has over 2,000 students in 27 countries as well as a network of partners across 10 territories. The company’s primary markets are Ireland, Britain, Scandinavia, Singapore, the Netherlands and the U.S.
Enrollment for the new course in Software Development at Flagler College is now live. For more information please visit the course webpage: flagler.edu/adulted/ctpdsd.
Flagler College is a small private, independent college located in St. Augustine, Fla. The college offers 34 majors, 41 minors, and a master’s degree in Education of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing. Flagler College has an enrollment of about 2,500 students, as well as an offsite campus in Tallahassee, Fla. U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review regularly feature Flagler as a college that offers quality education at a relatively low cost. A Flagler education is less than half the cost of similar private colleges, and competitive with many state universities. A relatively young institution (founded in 1968), Flagler College is also noted for its historic beauty. The centerpiece of the campus is the former Hotel Ponce de Leon, a National Historic Landmark opened in 1888 by railroad pioneer and Standard Oil co-founder Henry M. Flagler. For more on Flagler College, visit www.flagler.edu.
