From 1.0 GPA to $150K at American Express: How Free Tech Training Transformed Lives

Angel Juarez was 19, working part-time at Michaels crafts store, earning less than $15,000 a year and struggling to make ends meet. One night, he couldn't even afford sauce for his spaghetti. "I was pretty dejected that whole night. I just couldn't sleep because I was nervous about rent," Juarez told Fortune.

Scrolling through Facebook, he saw an ad for free tech training from the nonprofit Per Scholas. "It said 'free', so I was like, 'okay, I'm gonna do that,'" he said.

Eight years later, Juarez, now 27, is a software engineer at American Express making $150,000 a year. This is despite having a 1.0 GPA in high school—"which is about the worst you could do possible"—because he felt school was "just making me a number."

"I don't really even know what [my life] would have been without Per Scholas," he said. "They made me feel like a whole person unto myself."

Rigorous Training to Prepare for Tech Industry

Per Scholas has been bridging the skills divide for 30 years, training more than 30,000 people across the U.S. in 25 cities in 19 states. Their alumni work at companies like Google, Amazon, Wells Fargo, and American Express as software engineers, IT technicians, and systems administrators.

The key to their model is a rigorous 16-week training schedule with courses from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., plus hours of homework. Four days focus on technical skills like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Ruby, while one day is devoted to professional development.

"We have high expectations because we know that every single one of our learners can meet and exceed them," said Per Scholas President Caitlyn Brazill. "That's what it will take for them to get to their own career goals."

All courses include an AI training component to prepare students for modern workplaces. They also work directly with employers like Bank of America and Comcast to tailor training for local job markets.

A Focus on Economic Mobility and Upskilling

The Per Scholas median learner is 30 years old, with 85% being people of color and 40% women. Technology offers an average annual salary of $104,556, but the industry often lacks diversity—in 2021, only 8% of U.S. tech jobs were held by Latino Americans and 7% by Black Americans.

Per Scholas addresses this by providing free training to low- and moderate-income adults. Before attending, learners have an average income of $20,085; afterwards, they earn nearly three times more at $54,606 a year. In total, Per Scholas alumni have increased their earnings by about $35 billion.

Success Stories:

• Robert Davis, 38, went from retail and railroad work to a software developer role after a 15-week full-stack course.
• Kenetra Woods increased her income by 40% to $28 an hour as a systems administrator, allowing her to work from home and care for her son with autism.
• Amber Braaten, a mother of seven, went from being out of work to earning more than her husband as an infrastructure analyst.

Per Scholas has an 85% graduation rate, and 80% of graduates find full-time employment within one year. They also offer upskilling programs, with participants earning 32% more after additional training.

"It's clear to me that we're helping people get and stay on a positive upward trajectory," Brazill said. "That's what they're looking for, and the reason they come to us in the first place."