Amazon, in another effort to find workers with software skills, sought out a nearly 10-year-old Nashville nonprofit whose mission is training that kind of talent.
Nashville Software School announced a new software engineering certificate program on Monday, based on a curriculum from Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN).
Amazon approached Nashville Software School to form the partnership, the latest in a string of examples of the retail behemoth looking to foster tech talent in the region's K-12 systems, colleges, boot camps and other programs. Amazon has hired more than 2,000 workers for its Operations Center of Excellence at downtown's Nashville Yards development — more than 40% toward its goal of 5,000 jobs at that two-tower office hub.
Students of the online program can earn a certificate with specializations in Java and Amazon Web Services. According to a press release, graduates "will be able to apply for junior software engineering roles with the most selective employers. For example, NSS graduates who apply at Amazon for full-time, entry-level software development engineer roles will undergo the same hiring and evaluation process as graduates from four-year computer science bachelor’s degree programs."
Though Amazon was the spark, Nashville Software School emphasized that the program also is intended to expand access to tech careers beyond just that company.
The first cohort will have 25 students, and it will begin in June 2022. For the following cohort, the school plans to double enrollment, to 50 students.
Tuition is $18,000 for the nine-month, full-time program. Student loans, payment plans and scholarships are available, according to the school, including its "shared risk deferred tuition plan plus scholarship" option.
John Wark, founder and CEO of Nashville Software School, called the pairing with Amazon "a major milestone."
"NSS is also rolling out a number of ways to help interested adults with no prior programming experience determine if they want to pursue this career path and gain the coding skills required for enrollment in software engineering," according to the school's press release.
Nashville Software School, founded in 2012, teaches more than 400 students each year in classes for web development, data science, data analytics and professional development. Graduates have been hired at some of Greater Nashville's top corporations and fast-growing startups.
"We are excited to work with the Nashville Software School because of their proven track record of increasing the diversity of the Nashville tech community and their strong employment outcomes," said Sarah Castle, director of the Amazon Technical Academy.
