Veterans in web development immersive course benefit from scholarships

Veterans are some of the most passionate and capable members of our American society. With this in mind, General Assembly (GA), a global educational network offering classes, workshops and events in technology, business and design, has started a scholarship fund with support from rapper Nas, and companies Microsoft, Google and Hirepurpose, to help Veterans, women and other minority groups find more representation in the tech community.

The Opportunity Fund will provide assistance for traditionally underrepresented groups in tech to attend GA’s Web Development Immersive (WDI) course in New York. Microsoft provides the scholarships to Veterans, and Hirepurpose, a job-matching site built by Veterans for Veterans, has contributed a housing stipend.

GA’s mission is and has always been to create a “global community of individuals empowered to pursue work they love.” For GA, increasing the affordability and accessibility of its programs is a core component of that mission, as is finding ways to make the programming available to more people, especially those who are underrepresented in the industry.

The WDI program is designed to turn beginners into work-ready junior developers in 12 weeks. For those not familiar with the industry, developers are computer programmers who specialize in writing code to design and create websites and Web-based applications. Ideally, WDI participants will have working knowledge of Web programming, to include basic comprehension of the programming languages known as HTML and JavaScript, and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) —the style sheet language used for formatting documents written in markup language. For those looking to gain a more thorough understanding of what programming entails, GA’s Dash program is a fantastic place to start.

WDI is challenging and its curriculum is demanding, but graduates leave the program with the ability to build complex programs and apps on the Web, a skill that is incredibly in demand. Following graduation, participants will have full access to all of General Assembly’s resources, including its network of hiring partners and personalized support in finding full-time employment. A junior Web developer can anticipate an average starting salary of $70,000-$85,000.

Veterans are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to transition to the tech industry, and add their unique perspective to the community. Scholarships for applicants to attend a WDI session beginning in August are currently open until Wednesday, June 11, and can be filled out here.

General Assembly is a global educational institution that is building a community of individuals empowered to pursue work that they love through instruction and opportunity in technology, business and design. GA focuses on teaching its students the most relevant skills needed for the current job market in topics including:  Web development, data science, software engineering, product design, digital marketing and more. GA offers full- and part-time courses and classes, and workshops and events from its 10 campuses across the globe, as well as online education.

Matthew O. Brimer is the co-founder of General Assembly, where he leads global partnerships and business development. Brimer is responsible for many of the key partnerships that GA has created with Fortune 500 companies, including Google, Facebook, Amazon and American Express. His passion for online and offline education and community building has helped build GA’s global community of more than 100,000 students.

Brimer was most recently named to Vanity Fair’s “The Next Establishment” and Business Insider’s “Silicon Alley 100.” Prior to General Assembly, Brimer started a venture-backed social gaming company called PickTeams and the profitable antique furniture business, Aloysius Properties.  He holds a BA in sociology from Yale University.