St. Louis, MO – There is a huge demand for people to do tech jobs in St. Louis; and very few people to fill the demand. A new school in St. Louis, Claim Academy, is addressing that demand and preparing students very quickly (in just 12 weeks) to learn how to code – even if they have no prior experience – and connecting them with high-paying careers as software developers at a much lower cost than a four-year degree. The next classes begin June 14. Many scholarships are available.
Among the first group of graduates, nearly all the students received full scholarships and had jobs waiting for them upon graduation. Some of the students have scored higher than the majority of test-takers, including students around the world with four-year computer science degrees and field experience, in a national standardized exam for software developers.
Ola Ayeni, Claim Academy founder
Claim Academy was founded by Ola Ayeni, who came to St. Louis from Chicago after winning an Arch Grant to start his company eateria, a digital loyalty marketing tool for restauranteurs. “I came to St. Louis to start my company and had trouble finding software developers,” said Ayeni. “After struggling for so long, I decided to fix the problem, and that’s how Claim Academy started.”
In 2014, there were more than 23,000 ads for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) jobs in the St. Louis region; yet only about 2,000 job-seekers responded, according to 2014 State of St. Louis STEM Workforce Report.
“If St. Louis wants to be the next tech hub, how can that happen without enough software developers?” said Ayeni. “We want to change things. We want to help St. Louis become one of the leading places for technology and help St. Louis take the lead into the digital age.”
About Claim Academy Training and Students
“I started my journey into software development through Claim Academy.
Great instructors and staff, mixed with a great curriculum. I would recommend it to anyone.”
– Tyler Sadler, graduating Claim student
- Claim tuition training is $8,000 and gets students ready in 12 weeks vs. a four year degree costing far more and often not providing the same level of experience
- On average, junior software developers can make anywhere from $45,000-60,000 a year. The average salary for tech jobs in St. Louis is $95,800 – a more than 23% jump from the year before, according to Forbes.
- Claim began their first classes in February 2015. The first group of students graduated on May 27.
- Among the first group of graduates:
- Claim has been working with Advanced Resources, a leading national consulting firm headquartered in St. Louis, to get jobs for graduates. Eleven of the 12 Java and .NET students were hired upon graduation.
- Two of the students scored higher than the majority of test-takers, including those with four-year computer science degrees, in a national standardized exam for software developers (the Proxor Software Developer Exam).
- Learn more about individual Claim graduates at claimacademystl.com.
- Claim can take a novice and turn them into a junior developer in just 12 weeks. Students are from all ends of the spectrum – some have no experience in programming, while others used to program and wanted to update their skills.
- Claim students get individualized attention in small classes with 25 or fewer students in each class. Students work with world-class instructors and learn programming languages that businesses need, including Java and .NET. Classes are held in downtown St. Louis. The next classes at Claim begin next month in June. The Academy has begun filling those classes and is accepting applications.
Claim has partnered with the following businesses to provide scholarships, content, instructors and job opportunities for students:
- Advanced Resources
- Microsoft
- Ferguson 1000
- LaunchCode
- Coder Girl
- Louis League of Independent Workspaces
- eateria
For more information, go to Claim Academy’s site
