Year Up is a national organization, operating in 17 metro areas, that connects young adults aged 18-26 with intensive, long-term training and internships to connect them with entry-level IT jobs. Year Up places participants in classroom-based training for six months, where students learn both technical and professional skills. Classroom-based training is done in partnership with Seattle Central College and puts students on a pathway to earning an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in IT Networking.
Following the classroom-based training, participants are placed in a six-month, full-time internships at partner companies such as Accenture, Amazon, Microsoft, and Salesforce. Participants receive weekly stipends to help cover transportation and living costs, as well as mentoring and post-program job search support.
Year Up Puget Sound is offering the following programs in Spring 2022: Application Development & Support, Quality Assurance, and Helpdesk/Desktop Support.
Outcomes
In 10 years, Year Up Puget Sound has served 2,400 young adults. Nationally, Year Up has been found to have extraordinarily large impacts: earnings for participants are 34% higher than young adults in a control group (a nearly $8,000 per year earnings difference). These gains occur for participants of every age, gender, race, and educational background. Nationally, 90 percent of Year Up participants are employed or enrolled in college within four months of completing the program. Further, 95 percent of Year Up interns meet or exceed their internship manager’s expectations.