While some training programs are pivoting away from the tech industry as the pool of entry-level jobs shrinks, CodePath is doubling down. The nonprofit expects to serve about 20K students this year and has grown 50–100% each year since its founding in 2017, according to CEO and co-founder Michael Ellison. Annual salaries for graduates are averaging $92K one year out.
The nonprofit is growing, in part, because its skills-focused training and career prep have always been delivered alongside a computer science degree. CodePath’s goal wasn’t just to get students a job; it was to get them a better job.
And as AI raises the bar on what counts as entry-level skills in many roles, more colleges and even entire states are looking to give their students that edge. As a result, CodePath is increasingly embedding its offerings directly in universities’ computer science programs, rather than just offering stand-alone courses and support directly to students.
“We excel at bridging the gap between computer science and the workforce,” Ellison says. “That gap being bigger is actually very much a tailwind for us.”
Even as it plans to grow, though, the organization laid off some staff this week to reorient to the changing market. “We continue to hire for roles, and we are actually increasing total headcount,” CodePath said in a statement. “The changes to the organization ensure we are set up to scale quickly to meet the increased demand.”
(This story was originally reported before the layoffs and has been updated.)
In Maryland, which recently partnered with CodePath, Seeyew Mo describes the current hiring landscape as a diamond, as opposed to the pyramid it used to be. Hiring managers are looking for middle-skill workers, while entry-level work gets taken over by AI, says Mo, senior adviser of the Cyber Maryland program at the state’s Department of Labor.
That means students need real-world experience while they’re still in college so they can apply directly for those midlevel jobs upon graduation.
With funding from Blue Meridian Partners, CodePath is working with the Maryland Higher Education Commission and the state’s Labor Department to enroll at least 2K students in its programs by 2027, expanding its footprint in the state fivefold. Cybersecurity was an obvious focus for the work—with the headquarters of the National Security Agency in Maryland and the nation’s largest concentration of cybersecurity workers in the region around Washington, D.C.
To better prepare students to work in the industry, they’ve created a new AI core course, an advanced-level course where students will work on specific AI projects with different companies in the area. At Bowie State University, for example, CodePath is embedding its curriculum in the first-year web development course in the computer science department. By the end of the semester, students will showcase their projects, an opportunity traditionally reserved for seniors.
“That’s why this partnership is unique,” Mo says. “It’s not just about training and education; it’s about closing the gap so we can connect the educators and employers and have the necessary policy so that learning can lead to real-world experience and workforce opportunity.”
The partnership aligns with the Labor Department’s larger goal of connecting students with employers earlier in their education and finding innovative ways for students to get work experience, while benefiting local businesses. Last month, the department announced a new cyber and AI clinic in which students work on projects for local businesses that can’t afford to hire a full-time cybersecurity expert. These opportunities, in addition to traditional internships, can give students the needed skills to apply for midlevel roles, and employers benefit from their burgeoning expertise, Mo says.
For its part, CodePath jumped at the chance to make a change across an entire state, instead of going institution by institution or having to directly recruit students, says Tori Darby, who was senior manager of university partnerships at CodePath and lead on the Maryland initiative.
“This is the first time that we have had the backing of the state government, which is really helping us embed in these systems in ways we haven’t been able to do before,” Darby says.
California, Florida, Texas, and Washington are next on CodePath’s list.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated after publication to reflect new information.