It's official: It's back to school at coLearning

The Factory's coLearning program is now officially, official. The State of Michigan has certified the technology and design training and learning initiative as a proprietary school, a very important milestone for both the program and its students.

The certification will reinforce the learning outcomes for the students and assist in expanding career opportunities for coLearners who may be job-seeking upon completion of their course. For employers who invest in their employees' professional development, the certification demonstrates to clients their expertise in given areas. Certification will also help give employers and individuals access to funding through state programs like Michigan Works.

To date, the program has completed six courses and graduated over 100 coLearners. Amongst the courses that were scholarship-based, the leadership team at The Factory estimates a nearly 70 percent placement rate for individuals seeking jobs through coLearning courses.

The next round of coLearning courses begins September 4 and includes courses like Design Thinking, User Experience Design, Content Strategy, Intro to PHP, and Intro to Ruby. Aaron Schaap, Factory founder, says the new courses reflect the ongoing evolution of the program. "We continue to thrive in the technology space, but wanted to expand beyond the scholarship model for technical courses and reach the strong design community in West Michigan through our course offering," says Schaap.

To keep the engine humming, Schaap says that Annie Klooster will be taking over for Lauren Starrett, the past program director who is leaving for a new career opportunity, and that he anticipates adding more staff in the near future. Schaap says "coLearning is moving pretty fast and we are looking to hire more people to help grow the school. We don't have these roles finalized yet but most likely we'll continue to need people to help with admissions, recruitment, student services, and more."

To learn more about the program you can visit their site here.

Writer: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs News Editor