Today, despite the city’s record-breaking economy and dropping poverty rates, too many New Yorkers are struggling. We know that skills training and continuing education programs can be gateways to a stable, family-supporting future, but can also be cost-prohibitive. That’s why the Economic Development Corporation, the Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity, and the Department of Small Business Services are exploring income share agreements, or ISAs to enable low-income workers to upskill and achieve economic stability. This funding system ensures people of all backgrounds will be able to access high-quality training programs in 21st century fields, regardless of their ability to pay tuition upfront or their credit histories. Training providers would be held to the highest standards and participants would only be responsible to pay back after they secure a high-paying job. Because this funding mechanism factors in what students may realistically be able to pay based on their financial circumstances, they are all but guaranteed to be better off financially than before enrolling in the program.
At a time when we need effective training models that can be scaled, EDC and its partners are energized by ISAs’ potential to expand access to accelerated training programs such as coding bootcamps to low income New Yorkers who don’t have the resources to afford them. That is why we are pleased to announce a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) to establish the Talent Financing Fund. By placing participants’ interests at the heart of this initiative while simultaneously aligning the incentives of training and capital providers, the Fund will dramatically increase accessibility to good-paying opportunities in the tech sector. At a time when tech bootcamps are seeing a 49 percent increase in their graduates’ median salaries nationwide (according to Course Report’s 2018 Coding Bootcamp Alumni Outcomes & Demographics), we see a responsibility to connect even more people with the skills they need to take part in this burgeoning economy.
The Talent Financing Fund is not just a funding system. It will also include additional services, such as career coaching, financial counseling, and access to emergency funding, to meet the educational needs of the most vulnerable New Yorkers. These services will be provided to ensure they have the tools they need to succeed in an accelerated learning environment.
The RFEI can be found here. It further outlines our goals for the Fund and how stakeholders can contribute to the development of this exciting new model. We encourage training providers, student financing servicers, and community-based organizations to submit proposals to support the City’s efforts to advance economic mobility for all. Respondents may be selected according to a range of factors, including quality of service (demonstrated by successful student outcomes from prior learning programs), quality of student engagement and support (demonstrated by a robust ecosystem of wraparound services), and operational and financial feasibility (demonstrated by proposing fair ISA terms to students).
We look forward to seeing your plans; together, we can build even more paths to success for everyday New Yorkers.
Ana Ariño is the Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President of New York City Economic Development Corporation. Follow her on Twitter: @ArinoAna
To learn more about NYCEDC’s programs and initiatives, please visit edc.nyc.
