edX establishes first community college partnership, offering full scholarships to cybersecurity and data analytics boot camps and providing high-quality tech training for adult learners

TULSA, Okla. and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- edX, the global online learning platform from 2U, Inc. (Nasdaq: TWOU), is partnering with Tulsa Community College (TCC) and Tulsa Innovation Labs (TIL) to fund the Cyber Skills Center, a scholarship initiative that will give adult learners in the Tulsa area access to no cost, fully online boot camp training programs through TCC. The scholarships are designed to help increase technical talent in the Tulsa region, with a specific focus on helping women, BIPOC, and lower-income professionals build stronger economic futures. Applications are now open, with the first boot camp cohorts beginning in October 2022.

This initiative is being launched as part of edX's Access Partnerships: a social impact program that connects colleges and universities with local workforce agencies and funding partners to offer adult learners affordable pathways to learn career-relevant technology skills. With a focus on innovation and grassroots relationship building, these public-private partnerships have upskilled hundreds of learners in communities in the U.S. and U.K. at little to no cost. Programs are currently active at a dozen leading non-profit colleges and universities, including Kansas University, University of Central Florida, University of Oregon, University of Utah, University of Denver, University of California-Davis, University of Minnesota, University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas at San Antonio, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, University of Wisconsin Extension, and University of Birmingham. Since 2016, more than 55,000 learners have graduated from boot camps offered at over 50 colleges and universities around the globe in partnership with 2U, with 86% of graduates reporting a positive outcome post graduation.

"Tulsa Community College has extensive experience in evolving to the changes in our workforce and developing individuals with the needed skills for in-demand careers," said Dr. Leigh Goodson, TCC president & CEO. "Boot camp graduates will not only be able to pursue new career opportunities after program completion, but can also apply credits earned from the boot camp to education opportunities to support additional reskilling and upskilling."

"Our Access Partnerships help provide the infrastructure to bring colleges and universities, local workforce agencies and nonprofits, funding partners, and employers to the table to solve regional skills gaps and empower more working adults to succeed in the digital economy," said Anant Agarwal, edX Founder and Chief Open Education Officer at 2U. "We are honored to welcome TCC as our first community college partner and look forward to working together with them and TIL to help reskill and upskill Tulsa area learners as the city continues to grow its tech community."

The scholarship, funded with support from TIL's partner, the George Kaiser Family Foundation, covers the full cost of the programs, which includes 40 data analytics and 40 cyber security openings to start. The initial program is estimated to support more than 200 Tulsans over the next three years.

In addition to career services support from TIL and edX, all boot camp graduates will be eligible to continue learning enterprise-level skills in cybersecurity and data analytics through SkillStorm's 10-week training program, which also provides the potential opportunity to be connected with SkillStorm's diverse group of commercial and federal clients.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, cybersecurity and data analytics employment is expected to grow 33% and 22% respectively from 2020 to 2030. In its Tulsa Tech Niche study, TIL identified these two cross-industry fields as key areas of focus for job creation. In the past six months, employers in the Tulsa area have posted over 3,100 cybersecurity jobs and over 4,800 data analytics jobs, according to Burning Glass Labor Insights.

"Tulsa Innovation Labs is committed to making big investments where opportunities for traditionally underserved Tulsans overlap with industries in which Tulsa has a right to win," said Nicholas Lalla, Managing Director of Tulsa Innovation Labs. "This initiative is a home run on both counts, and will be a game-changer in how the city leverages its unique competitive advantages to give Tulsans from every background a chance to access a high-paying career in cyber and data analytics."

For more information on Cyber Skills Center, the Access Partnership, and to apply for the scholarship, visit tulsacc.edu/cybercenter.

About edX
edX is the education movement for restless learners and a leading global online learning platform from 2U, Inc. (Nasdaq: TWOU). Together with the majority of the world's top-ranked universities and industry-leading companies, we bring our community of over 44 million learners world-class education to support them at every stage of their lives and careers, from free courses to full degrees. And we're not stopping there — we're relentlessly pursuing our vision of a world where every learner can access education to unlock their potential, without the barriers of cost or location. Learn more at edX.org.

About Tulsa Community College
Tulsa Community College, winner of two national Awards of Excellence from the American Association of Community Colleges in 2021, is a vital link to workforce development for northeast Oklahoma. Serving more Oklahomans than any other higher education institution in the state, TCC has four main campuses with roughly 21,000 students in credit courses each year. For five decades, TCC has provided access to an affordable college education. As one of 30 community colleges selected for the inaugural Pathways Project, a national initiative funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, TCC is one of the most comprehensive community colleges in the United States. For more information on TCC, visit www.tulsacc.edu.

About Tulsa Innovation Labs
Recognizing that the jobs of the future are rooted in a thriving innovation economy, the George Kaiser Family Foundation pioneered Tulsa Innovation Labs to develop a city-wide strategy that positions Tulsa as a tech hub and leader in the future of work. Through a diverse coalition of public and private partners, TIL is creating economic development programs that seek to make Tulsa the nation's most inclusive tech community. Learn more at tulsainnovationlabs.com.

About Skillstorm
Founded in 2002, SkillStorm was built on the mission of accelerating careers in high-demand technologies. We create Stormers, the world's most elite developers. We hire, train, and deploy Stormers from all backgrounds and experience levels in today's in-demand technologies, including AWS, Appian, Salesforce, PEGA, and ServiceNow. We are committed to hiring and training college graduates and veterans for high-growth technology careers with our Fortune 100 clients. Through these dedicated efforts, we provide our clients with an exclusive pipeline of high-quality, U.S.-based tech talent that is custom trained with the skills required to support our clients' critical technology initiatives. As a flexible technology workforce partner, we provide fully formed tech teams at every level of experience, skill sets, and clearance. Stormers are deployed either at our clients' sites or at our U.S.-based delivery centers.

Media Contact: Caitlin Kanaly, media@2u.com

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SOURCE 2U, Inc.