Coding academy coming to the Mississippi coast
BILOXI, Miss. (AP) — A new training facility for people who want to learn coding is coming to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
The University of Southern Mississippi’s School of Computing Sciences and Computer Engineering and Mississippi Coding Academies are opening a Biloxi location, according to a press release.
Applications are open for the new Biloxi Cyber Center, scheduled to launch in early August.
Mississippi Coding Academies offer tuition-free, 11-month courses. The program was founded in 2017 as a joint project between Innovate Mississippi and the Mississippi Development Authority, a state agency tasked with recruiting new businesses to Mississippi and promoting economic growth.
The program’s goal is to offer a non-traditional path to getting into the software field and to offer economic mobility for residents, particularly those from disadvantaged and underserved communities.
“Most participants come from under-served families and are either not college bound or found that college did not provide the desired economic independence,” the program’s website reads. “Most only have a high school education and are typically earning part time minimum wages.”
The program has three other training locations: one based in downtown Jackson, one in Starkville, and another in south Jackson.
