The Cincinnati Enquirer: UC’s Early IT program helping to curb talent shortage

The University of Cincinnati's Early Information Technology program is preparing students for in-demand jobs and helping them save money by graduating early, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

According to a report from consulting firm Korn Ferry, more than 85 million IT jobs worldwide could go unfilled by 2030 "because there aren't enough skilled people to take them."

Hazem Said, director of UC’s School of Information Technology, said he’s heard about the shortage from local industry partners for nearly a decade. In response, he's crafted the Early IT program and recruited more than 30 local school districts to sign on, offering any student who joins and does well automatic admission into the university.

“If our talent in Cincinnati, in Ohio, in the United States is not globally competitive, it will impact our ability as a country, as an economy, as a culture, as a philosophy to thrive in the world of tomorrow," Said said.

There are more than 1,100 high school students in the program and 1,200 university students in UC's IT college.

Colby Nolasco, a 2020 graduate of Lebanon High School, joined the Early IT program during his junior year of high school after hearing he could learn how to code his own video games.

He earned the credits equivalent to one year of college by the time he graduated from high school and is on track to graduate from the five-year master's program a year early.

Read the Enquirer's story.

Featured image at top: Hazem Said, director of UC's School of Information Technology, addresses Akron's Kenmore-Garfield High School in February 2020 when the school joined as a partner in the Early IT Program. Photo/Shane Wynn Photography