JavaScript framework startup Meteor has a new scholarship program in partnership with the Flatiron School to teach computer science to high school girls from underrepresented backgrounds. As part of the scholarship, Meteor and Flatiron are giving 15 students free access to a 12-week web development and design course. The course, which is valued at $1,500, teaches students HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and UX + UI design. The course starts in February 2016 and is open to New York City-based young women between the ages of 13 and 18.
“Increasingly, the rules for how the world works and how we interact with each other are produced through software,” Meteor Co-founder and CEO Geoff Schmidt told TechCrunch. “And I think it’s really important that as many people from as many backgrounds as possible have a seat at the table in writing that software and influencing how it works.”
The Meteor web development scholarship is not the first time Flatiron School has supported initiatives to teach underserved people how to code. Earlier this year, the school partnered with Workforce Development Corporation to offer a free 22-week fellowship to New York residents who have not received college degrees. Flatiron School also previously partnered with model Karlie Kloss to teach young women how to code.
Anyone interested in participating in the Meteor scholarship at the Flatiron School can apply here through January 20, 2016. Meteor, which was founded in 2011, has raised $31.2 million to date.