NEW ORLEANS - Operation Spark, a software training center established in 2013, provides upward mobility opportunities through skills training and job placement in high-wage tech careers. The New Orleans-based nonprofit has made significant strides in education and workforce development in the region.
Focusing on areas where generational poverty is an issue, Operation Spark provides practical learning programs for accessible, accelerated workforce development to win high-wage jobs in technology.
Its High School to High Wage program engages over 600 young people aged 15 to 17 across Louisiana annually to explore software careers and its Adult Workforce program “Immersion”, which graduated its first class in 2016, has seen graduates land tech jobs with companies such as LinkedIn, Ubisoft, DXC Technology, General Electric, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Louisiana Student Loan and Graduation Stats
While the amount of money higher education students in Louisiana borrow is lower than the national average, there are more of them which means there’s a strong demand for lower cost degrees here.
According to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Federal Student Aid, the average student loan debt in Louisiana is $34,866. There are 665,400 student borrowers living in Louisiana and half of them are above the age of 35, with twenty percent of borrowers owing $20,000 to $40,000 (average $28,603).
Operation Spark has stated that eighty percent of low-income students drop out of college strapped with debt with thousands of young adults, ages 16 to 24, across the South who are not in school and are unemployed or are underemployed.
Louisiana's six-year graduation rate for full-time undergraduate students at public four-year institutions is approximately 48%, below the national average of around 64% according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Louisiana community colleges report three-year graduation rates of around 20-25%, which is also lower than the national average for two-year institutions.
Tech Jobs are Growing
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says IT employment is projected to grow much faster than the national average for all occupations over the next ten years, with an average of about 356,700 openings projected per year. These jobs pay on average $104,420 which is higher than all other occupations at $48,060.
Louisiana has already seen a massive increase in future tech jobs with the announcement by Meta of a $10 billion data center in Richland Parish which expects to fill 500 or more direct new jobs.
Operation Spark says it uses industrial tools to teach students to write software and applications resulting in fully autonomous developers within six months. Post-graduation, Operation Spark collaborates with a network of employer partners to facilitate job placements.
Fostering effective education and results-oriented workforce development in the tech industry, Operation Spark has established itself as a pivotal institution in New Orleans and throughout Louisiana.
