Facebook recently announced they are investing $1 million in CodePath.org, a nonprofit education technology organization that partners with colleges and major technology companies to help prepare students, especially underrepresented minorities, for future technology careers. The investment will help CodePath.org expand from serving 400 students to more than 1,000 students per semester in the next year, according to the nonprofit. It will also allow CodePath.org to create courses that target underrepresented minorities and women during their freshman year and expand their number of college partners.
“This partnership will bring together thousands of students with professors, administrators and companies to collaborate on transforming U.S. computer science education,” said Seaon Shin, founder and director of growth operations at CodePath.org in a CodePath.org press release. “Our shared goals are to inspire more underrepresented students to pursue computer science and bridge the gap between traditional CS [computer science] and practical software engineering.”
Universities that currently use CodePath.org to offer their students coding courses include Mississippi State, Howard and Purdue. The platform allows instructors to save time in curriculum development by using the management software provided. Students and professors also have access to learning materials, videos, guides and 24/7 online homework help at no additional cost.
“We hope our partnership with Facebook will encourage more industry leaders to complement in-house programs with programs that help our colleges and community colleges better prepare students from underrepresented communities for technical careers,” said Michael Ellison, CodePath.org’s CEO.
