Providing access and creating opportunities for a path into tech careers has been at the core of DCI’s mission for some time now. We truly believe that apprenticeship creates opportunities for early career talent to learn technical skills, grow professionally, and gain access into tech spaces that have historically required 4-year degrees and years of experience. However, as we began doing the work to create those pathways we encountered time and time again the financial barriers for education and training that our apprentices were facing.
As a company, we asked ourselves “how can we not only create opportunities for apprentices to upskill starting in their careers but also remove financial barriers?” That’s when we knew. It was time to use our connections to create partnerships with local workforce boards, federal grant organizations, and best of all provide our very own scholarship to begin removing some of those financial barriers for success.
Diversity Scholarship
As of 2020, 74% of DCI apprentices are underrepresented minorities in tech and 54% are women. As part of our mission to upskill and provide opportunities for underrepresented tech talent, this year DCI committed to providing a Diversity Scholarship of up to $2000 for eligible apprentices to assist with off-setting tuition or educational costs that would otherwise be a barrier for success.
DCI strives to create more opportunities for access to tech careers through apprenticeships in Digital Marketing, Data Analysis, and soon Cyber Security. With our launch of the Diversity Scholarship in July 2020, our goal is that by the end of 2020 we will have provided more than $5,000 in scholarship funds and by 2021 to have provided up to $72,000. Learn more about the Diversity Scholarship here.
Grants
There is no doubt that the DCI Apprenticeship is an investment in your future. While apprentices will earn highly marketable skills from industry experts to rapidly upskill; along with mentoring, career coaching, and portfolio projects to showcase their work, we understand that the financial impact can not be taken lightly.
That’s why we’ve partnered with local Workforce Boards to provide eligible apprentices up to $7,000 in WIOA grant funds for tuition. Additionally, we have also partnered with the Department of Labor to provide eligible apprentices an additional $6,200 towards off-setting the cost of tuition.
That is $13,200 worth of grant funds DCI apprentices are eligible to receive to help cover the cost of upskilling and accelerating their tech career. Once an apprentice has been accepted in DCI, they are then eligible for an additional scholarship up to $2,000 towards tuition which in most cases further reduces or completely covers tuition in full depending on the program you pursue.
Our goal is to ensure that every apprentice has the opportunity to launch their career in tech and that financial barriers aren’t the deciding factor in taking the leap to join DCI’s Apprenticeship Program. Interested in applying for the Diversity Scholarship or know someone who might be a great fit?
