The Marcy Lab School is reimagining higher education and workforce development with one critical mission: to create an alternative pathway to wealth generating technology careers for young adults from underestimated backgrounds. Over the past 20 years, we've seen colleges and universities across the country fail our young people and saddle them with student debt. So we designed a better way — a no-cost alternative program that provides graduates with a direct route to meaningful careers.
Just three months from graduation, 80% of our Fellows are working as fulltime software engineers with an average salary of $106,000.
Why college is broken
For decades, college has been our nation’s presumptive solution to moving families out of poverty and into the middle class. Yet over the past 20 years, we’ve seen this 'solution' repeatedly fail communities of color. Colleges and universities across the country more often act as barriers to opportunity for our young people due to crippling costs and an inability to support high-need students to completion. Still, each year, 7 million low-income families take on the risk & financial burden of enrolling in higher education, often because no better alternatives exist.
“Marcy is unique because their model is comprehensive when it comes to both software engineering and professional development. No other program I’ve come across provides as much educational depth or as full a commitment to uplifting to Black and Brown students and those from low-income backgrounds. That they make all of this possible at no cost to students is all the more impressive.”
“At the Marcy Lab School, I’ve learned what my best is, and I’ve learned everything I’m capable of. I’m growing into me - the best version of me.”
Jarrit Alicea, 2021 Fellow
“I’ve loved my experience working with Marcy Lab Fellows. I’ve been impressed with everything from their technical foundations and insatiable curiosity, to the thoughtfulness around owning their own learning and becoming a well-rounded engineer. Marcy Lab Fellows consistently exceed my expectations and are a lovely reminder that it’s always worth investing in mentorship.”
“When selecting a partner for AsanaUpLevel, we interviewed several different bootcamp-style programs. The Marcy Lab School stood out as the only program that combined a focus on students from traditionally disadvantaged backgrounds and a high-quality curriculum that we felt would prepare fellows to work at Asana. Marcy Lab is also open to working with us to find creative solutions and iterate on our partnership – they’ve been the ideal first partner for AsanaUpLevel.”
Bradley Portnoy, Engineering Manager @ Asana
“When I found Marcy, I tried not to let my hopes get too high in that I had found a great source of mission aligned engineering talent. Since I’ve partnered with Marcy, every Fellow I’ve spoken with has been kind, eager, independent, and hungry to learn and improve. Those are qualities I can’t teach but that I value tremendously when hiring software engineers. I look forward to working with more Marcy Fellows in the future.”
Harry Li, CTO, Braven Education
Our Impact
We are incredibly proud of our 2020-21 Fellows who have developed into confident, technically-proficient problem solvers who know their worth and have landed software engineering jobs paying more than $100,000 per year.
We serve a racially diverse student body with additional emphasis on gender parity. This year's class was 57% women and 70% Black and/or Latinx. 100% come from low-income backgrounds and many are first generation citizens.
Marcy Lab HQ
Canarsie
Ozone Park
Valley Stream
Cambria Heights
Bushwick
Corona
Forest Hills
Elmhurst
Woodside
West Harlem
Mott Haven
Yonkers
Lenox Hill
Brownsville
Prospect Heights
Boerum Hill
Ocean Hill
Borough Park
Bay Ridge
Staten Island
Flatbush
80% of this year’s graduates have launched software engineering careers with an average salary of $106,500.
$51,400
City College of New York Graduate Median Salary
$77,867
Average Salary of Entry-Level Software Engineer in NYC
$93,000
City College of New York Median Mid-Career Salary
$106,500
Marcy Lab Graduate Median Compensation 60 Days Post Graduation
City College of New York Graduate Median Salary
Average Salary of Entry-Level Software Engineer in NYC
City College of New York Median Mid-Career Salary
Marcy Lab Graduate Median Compensation 60 Days Post Graduation
Program overview
Our flagship program, the Software Engineering Fellowship, is a true alternative to college, designed to be a direct pathway for young people of color from low socioeconomic backgrounds to employment as entry-level software engineers. Upon graduation, fellows are equipped with a strong understanding of computer science skills, a portfolio that showcases their talent in practice, and the capacity to compete in the burgeoning technology economy while creating economic mobility for themselves and their families.
Software engineering training
Through a project-based curriculum, students not only learn the most in-demand programming languages and frameworks today, but they learn fundamentals and first principles that they will carry with them throughout their careers.
Leadership development
Our goal is to cultivate confidence. Our Leadership Development program pushes Fellows to understand their strengths, their passions, who they are, and where they come so that they know that they add value to whatever room they enter into.
Immersive apprenticeship
Classroom-based training is followed by a three-month paid apprenticeship where fellows apply their skills to complex problems as part of a real engineering team or by working on an open-source software project.
Career fluency
We prepare our Fellows to communicate their strengths and values throughout the interview process and navigate the norms of communication and relationship building in a corporate setting. We are with them every step of the way in the hiring process.
Meet our grads
We are so proud of this year's Fellows who have exceeded our greatest expectations by securing fulfilling careers, ending the cycle of generational poverty for their families, and making the technology space more equitable and diverse for those who come after them.
Ebony Brown
Software Engineering Apprentice, Cockroach Labs
Rosmary Fermin
Software Engineer, WW (formerly Weight Watchers)
Seola Carrano
Software Engineer, Bevy
Moises Dolores
Software Engineering Fellow, Spotify
Shemar Gordon
Software Engineer, Squarespace
Rabia Khan
Software Engineer, WW (formerly Weight Watchers)
Nila Singh
Software Engineer, JP Morgan Chase & Co.
Our Financials
Thanks to the generosity of our community, we were able to triple our impact this year while building the infrastructure to scale our powerful higher education model well into the future.
