Dive Brief:
- A partnership between Southern New Hampshire University and Flatiron School coding bootcamp will expand access to coding training for students and might come with federal student aid funding.
- Flatiron School announced the partnership Wednesday, describing three components: an expansion of its online learning program, a coding bootcamp at SNHU's Nashua campus, and a 3+1 program that starts at SNHU and ends with 6 months at Flatiron School and then an apprenticeship.
- The partners will also apply for the Obama administration's newly announced experimental sites program, Educational Quality Through Innovative Partnerships, in hopes of providing access to students qualifying for federal financial aid.
Dive Insight:
The Education Department's experimental sites program is offering a path to federal student aid for alternative programs if they partner with accredited institutions. The program is a response to criticism that the current accreditation system blocks innovators with high student outcomes, like Flatiron.
While some worry opening up federal funding will corrupt the fledgling industry as it becomes overrun with bad actors looking for profits, Flatiron Founder and President Adam Enbar has said that could be prevented if the government is careful about how it awards funding, requiring coding bootcamps to prove high job placement rates, for example.