Google is making a push toward diversity.
On Thursday the software giant opened Code Next in Oakland, California. The program offers a computer science lab and coding classes to 70 eighth-grade students in Oakland as well as 70 at its Harlem, New York, location. Students in New York will attend classes at Google’s NYC headquarters until 2017 when the Harlem location is set to open.
The program offers young African-American and Latino students the opportunity to learn coding and prepare them for future careers in the engineering and computer science industries. According to a study through Google and Gallup, 51 percent of African-American students and 47 percent of Latino students do not have access to computer sciences courses in grade school.
Code Next and MIT Media Lab have developed a curriculum for students to take advantage of during evenings and weekends. Although the program is free, students must be nominated by their school or a nonprofit organization to attend.
