The private education biz can be a difficult industry to navigate—caught between the necessary battle to become profitable and while also providing an equitable, high-quality curriculum for students. But that’s exactly what General Assembly (GA) DC has accomplished with its advanced technology education programs.
GA Regional Director Paul Gleger told DC Inno that GA DC stands apart from competing tech education services—including university courses, online programs or other conference-style crash courses—because of a focus on teaching skills that are in direct demand by tech companies.
“Honestly, in terms of the quality, affordability and structure of our classes, I think we’re at the top”
Following shortly after a recent campus renovation that added 3 new classrooms (covering roughly 4,000-square-feet), Gleger told DC Inno that GA DC reached an impressive 90 percent employment rate for graduates of its immersive program.
Participants in the 8 to 12 week immersive program are full-time students that typically spend eight hours on campus per day during the week, Gleger said. In addition, the roughly 4 month accelerated course offers an abundance of knowledge at a comparably cheaper price than what a similar degree would cost at a local university, he explained. The immersive program costs about $10,500 per student.
“Our immersive students have gone on to work at places like USA Today, Deloitte Digital, Booz Allen Hamilton, iStrategy Labs, Capital One, Wedding Wire, Living Social, TD Ameritrade, Spark Creative, 1776, Optoro and many other high growth D.C.-based [tech] companies,” Gleger said.
General Assembly, as an organization, offers everything from one-day workshops to the larger immersive program, which is taught by professors with industry knowledge and experience. At the moment, GA boasts 19 campuses around the world and is headquartered in New York City.
Fast Company previously reported that GA’s global and active student base are requesting more classes (i.e. products). “General Assembly’s annual class hours have shot up from 117,012 to 260,176. The organization already has 10,000 alumni … so far, $1.57 million in financial aid has been distributed to students, thanks to partnerships with loan providers Earnest and Climb,” Fast Company wrote.
Students learn about complex subjects like programming, data science and user experience design at General Assembly’s D.C.-based campus. While the immersive programs costs more than 10 grand, one-day courses can cost about $50 and an expanded, part-time evening program costs about $3500.
“Honestly, in terms of the quality, affordability and structure of our classes, I think we’re at the top,” Gleger said.
Altruistic growth?
GA DC was founded in October 2013. That first year, the D.C. campus only offered evening classes and just 80 students were taking courses. Fast forward just two years and GA DC is expected to teach 1200 students through 2015, Gleger revealed to DC Inno. Last year, there were 675 course students.
The student to instructor ratio is currently 7 to 1
Between 2014 and 2015, the organization will roughly double its customer/student base.
The student growth looks to be translating into big business, as GA DC plans to add team members and offer more courses after the renovation effort, but Gleger declined to comment on revenue.
As it stands, GA DC employs 20 full-time employees spread across specific divisions like marketing, education, admissions, curriculum design and partner development. There are 7 full-time instructors and 13 on the operations team.
In the next 6 months, Gleger plans to add roughly 3 new hires; a new member to the alumni relations team, an experience coordinator and one other partner relations pro.
Gleger explained that he believes it will be important to keep the GA DC team lean while still finding ways to reach more students and employment partners from the private sector.
The student to instructor ratio is currently 7 to 1 at the D.C. campus and Gleger said he doesn’t plan for the ratio to shift very much in the near future.
The tech education and training workshop is located just a short elevator trip from office building neighbors, 1776. The 8th floor, which GA DC calls home at 1133 15th St NW, is owned by tech incubator 1776. While GA is a paying tenant who also shares space with 1776 on the 8th floor, the renovation effort effectively expanded their local footprint.
DC vantage
Gleger said he’s particular excited about working with, and forging programs for, the federal government. He added that the D.C. campus offers a rare opportunity to serve as an education hub for the federal government’s IT workforces.
A recently launched tuition credit program for government employees that are taking GA courses is one of the first signs that a potential partnership could flourish.
This fall, Gleger tells DC Inno, GA will apply to become an accredited GI Bill-qualified education service. If they are approved, it will open GA's doors to military veterans that are interested in government-backed higher ed opportunities outside of university classrooms.
