SAN ANTONIO – For years, students interested in an immersive tech boot camp would pack their bags and head to San Antonio with their sights set on CodeUp.
However, since the pandemic began to unravel in March of 2020, educational institutions were forced to transition to the virtual world. CodeUp was no exception.
Its CEO, Jason Straughan, said the change has been a silver living as it has opened up more possibilities for students in tech.
“Before (the pandemic) happened, you had to move to San Antonio or Dallas and be physically in one of our campuses to be able to come and experience CodeUp,” Straughan said. “Now, we are offering our remote program anywhere inside the State of Texas.”
In a time where the world shut down and some industries suffered tremendously due to the pandemic, Tommy Cirilo-Thorpe’s career was barely beginning to develop.
“I enrolled early in May,” Cirilo-Thorpe said. “My main focus is a full stack (web) development.”
The virtual program is one of two offered at CodeUp.
“This is an industry that embraced remote work a decade or more ago, and so, it was easier for us to transition than maybe some other educational institutions,” Straughan said.
The second program offered is in data science.
“Both of them are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for 22 weeks,” Straughan said. “It’s a very intense program.”
Cirilo-Thorpe, now graduate of CodeUp, said the online courses offered flexibility, but most importantly, the knowledge and foundation needed to land a job within six months of graduation.
“As a full stock developer, we can basically create web applications or websites or programs from scratch or edit something that’s already there or maintain it,” Cirilo-Thorpe said. “Thanks to our admissions team, I was introduced to a gentleman who works at this company called Cognizant. It’s a Fortune 200 company.”
The graduate was hired on as an intern and is expected to be brought onto the team full-time in the Spring of 2021, providing peace of mind for him and his wife.
“Our web development students enjoyed around $45,000 in a median starting salary and our data science students it was almost (in the) $70,000 range,” Straughan said.
CodeUp is now officially certified by the State of Texas to offer online classes. Scholarships are available for minorities in technology.
To learn more about the upcoming start date of CodeUp’s programs, click here.
