Nexford University and Byte Back have launched a new scholarship in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: the Essential Futures Scholarship.

Byte Back, which provides a pathway of inclusive tech training that leads to living-wage careers, will provide 15 residents of the Washington DC metro area up to 70% towards any online degree at Nexford.

The scholarships will help support those whose job security and lives have been impacted by the coronavirus and want to upskill in areas such as E-Commerce, Business Analytics, and Critical Thinking.

Orders to stay at home issued by states in the US to stem the spread of the virus have frozen the economy and seen unemployment spike across America. In Washington DC, over 55,000 people have filed unemployment claims, a burst that economists say is unprecedented.

“This crisis has revealed the value of an online education,” says Mark Rivera, Education Manager at Byte Back, the organization synonymous with job-readiness training and quality education. This pandemic continues to have a clarifying effect about what really matters: those looking to upskill are joining the next generation of learners online.

Online learning, American made

It has always been Nexford’s mission to bring down barriers and make education accessible anywhere by anyone. Dr Sheila Fournier-Bonilla, Nexford’s Chief Academic Officer, says: “Nexford is a new type of American university. It’s an online university for the world. With Byte Back, our mission to make education more accessible really starts at home, in Washington DC.”

Nexford has already seen great success stories in the US, such as with Matthew Shokunbi, a current MBA learner taking a specialization in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence.

As an Assurance Senior at one of the largest professional services firms in the world, EY, Matthew is enjoying studying topics of the future: “The future is in artificial intelligence,” he says.

“I need to give my career as long a path as possible. That’s why I applied for Nexford’s MBA.

It builds on the experience and exposure I’m getting in California and gives me global visibility. I’m now looking to the future, and I know my MBA coupled with my work experience opens me up to opportunities anywhere in the world.”

An Essential Futures Scholarship is one way to turn this pandemic into an opportunity, to make meaningful memories that can soften the blow of missed moments and milestones.

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