Giving Compass' Take:

· The author addresses Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' call for more bootcamp-university partnerships and takes a look inside the Make School and Dominican University collaboration. 

· Do these partnerships provide sufficient preparation for individuals entering the workforce? 

· Check out this article to learn more about bootcamp-universities and innovation in higher education. 

It came as a surprise to many last November when a for-profit coding school and a small liberal arts college announced that the two would join forces.

Nestled in the green hills of Marin Country, Calif., Dominican University has been around for 129 years, and didn’t have many offerings available for students interested in technology or computer science. Less than 20 miles south in downtown San Francisco, Make School, a coding bootcamp, was looking into ways it could get its two-year program accredited to offer students a bachelor’s degree.

Now the two schools are helping fill each other’s gaps. As part of the agreement, Dominican will help Make School bring liberal arts courses to its coding curriculum to bulk up to a bachelor’s degree program, and in return, Make School will help Dominican create a minor in computer science.

There aren’t many examples that mimic the partnership—yet. But across the country in Washington D.C., the Department of Education has shared proposals that could open the door to more arrangements between accredited and unaccredited institutions. Advocates say that could lead to more innovation in higher ed. But even those excited about the Make School and Dominican University partnership aren’t sure that loosening regulations is good thing.

Read the full article about bootcamp-university partnerships by Sydney Johnson at EdSurge.