Per Scholas gets funding to expand its free IT training program

Per Scholas, a national nonprofit that offers free CompTIA A+ certification courses at its Silver Spring, Md., location, announced Wednesday it has received additional funding to expand the program.
CompTIA A+ certification is described as “the starting point for a career in IT.”
The support comes from TEKsystems, an IT staffing company with branches across the U.S., Canada, Europe and India. TEKsystems will provide financial backing (amount undisclosed as of yet) to help expand the reach of Per Scholas’s free 8-week CompTIA A+ course, according to a press release.
TEKsystems employees will also offer the students career advice, resume feedback, mock interviews and other soft-skill training.
“As an employer-driven, sector-focused nonprofit, we would not be successful without the support of our industry partners like TEKsystems,” said Plinio Ayala, president and CEO of Per Scholas, in the release. Per Scholas is a nonprofit based in the Bronx. It opened its Silver Spring location last April.
So far, the local branch has graduated 59 students in 2014, and all have received A+ certifications and are now earning an average $18.40 an hour, according to Per Scholas regional managing director Bridgette Gray. “Our class size goal is 20, 4 cohorts, 80 students per year,” she wrote in an email.
The program, called IT-Ready, is also offered in Per Scholas’s locations in Cincinnati, Columbus, Dallas, Minneapolis and New York.
To join the next cohort, you can apply here.