Administration expands financial aid for low-income students

The Obama administration announced a new pilot program Wednesday that will open financial aid to students participating in nontraditional education programs such as coding boot camps.

The Educational Quality through Innovative Partnerships program — or Equip —  allows colleges and universities to partner with unaccredited education and training programs.

{mosads}Instead of enrolling in a college, students will be able to enroll in a school’s Equip program and earn college credits for career training courses that the accredited school and the unaccredited program create.

To participate in Equip, the Education Department said, institutions must partner with at least one nontraditional education provider and a third-party “quality assurance entity” to independently review and monitor the program. The quality assurers will be responsible for holding the nontraditional training programs and post-secondary schools accountable for student outcomes.

The agency’s program is part of a trend toward experimental education and training models.

“Some of these new models may provide more flexible and more affordable credentials and educational options than those offered by traditional higher institutions, and are showing promise in preparing students with the training and education needed for better, in-demand jobs,” the Department of Education said in a news release.

This year alone, computer coding boot camps are expected to see a 240 percent increase in graduates, growing from 6,740 in 2014 to more than 16,000.