Northwest Arkansas Community College launches coding boot camps

BENTONVILLE -- Northwest Arkansas Community College announced a partnership Tuesday to make coding education more affordable and accessible for students.

The college has partnered with tech education provider Promineo Tech to offer boot camps on front end and back end software development and big data engineering, according to a joint news release.

The 18-week boot camps are open for enrollment. They will begin Oct. 21 and Nov. 18, according to the release. They cost $3,575 to complete, according to the college's website.

"Last year's rapid economic shift has created tremendous demand among those who want to re-skill," said Nick Suwyn, Promineo Tech founder. "Bringing these boot camp programs to Arkansas is a great opportunity to enhance the workforce acceleration within the state, specifically in the increasingly in-demand field of technology."

A spike in demand for skilled software developers has left 1.4 million jobs open nationally within the last year, according to the release. There are nearly 1,300 software development positions open in Arkansas alone, the release says.

The demand for certified, entry-level to highly skilled web developers and digital interface designers, is projected to increase 19% through 2029 in Arkansas, according to Evetta Aldridge, training and community development director for the college.