Byte Back is partnering with Saylor Academy to expand free tech skills training

Byte Back is partnering with Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit The Saylor Academy to offer a free pathway to college credits.

Through this partnership, the D.C.-based tech inclusion nonprofit is offering its students a chance to take Saylor’s free online college credit courses that are transferable to universities. Saylor bases its curriculum off of its partnerships with colleges and universities like Thomas Edison State University, Western Governors University, Southern New Hampshire University and University of Maryland Global Campus. With a mission to remove educational barriers, Saylor also partners with nonprofits and employers to to offer flexible education and job opportunities to people in need.

“Most Byte Back students can’t afford college,” Elizabeth Lindsey, executive director of Byte Back, said in a statement. “Thanks to this partnership with Saylor Academy, our students will have more opportunities to gain skills and, very importantly, college credits, which will help them secure living-wage careers and move up in their careers.”

Saylor’s free courses are able to lead to college credit because students are required to take an exam to acquire them. Since there’s no costs attached to Saylor’s program, students can start, stop and return to their courses as needed.

“Byte Back shares our vision to remove the barriers many face to getting the skills and higher education they need to advance their natural talents,” Jeff Davidson, executive director of Saylor Academy, said in the press release. “By adding our always-on free courses, delivering in-demand soft skills and pathways to an affordable degree to their catalog, Byte Back students will be able to continue to advance in tech careers, while having time for family and other obligations without incurring additional debt.”