UNC Charlotte will be first school in NC to offer financial technology boot camp

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - UNC Charlotte will be the first university in the state to offer boot-camp classes when it comes to financial technology, or fin-tech. Classes will start in March 2020, and people are already signing up.

The university is working with other colleges around the country to fill a void in the workplace nationwide when it comes to financial technology.

“There’s just a plethora of opportunities for working adults to come back and upskill,” UNC Charlotte Director of Continuing Education Asher Haines said. “The fin-tech boot camp is a 24 week part-time program to help people acquire new technology skills to fill a need in the financial services industry.”

Haines said in 2018, there were about 45,000 job postings in the fin-tech industry located in the Charlotte area. Charlotte has become an area where hi-tech companies are coming to set up shop.

The school is teaming up with Trilogy Education to help create boot camps in fields that can connect people with better paying jobs and help with economic mobility. There are already boot camps offered at UNC Charlotte in coding, data analytics and cyber-security. So far more than 600 people have graduated from one of those boot camps. All the boot camps deal with the technology industry.

“Fin-tech is sort of a new term anyway,” Haines said. “But what it means is basically it’s for financial professionals to use technology to make things better for the organization - more efficient, more effective.”

The fin-tech boot-camp will cost $10,995 to attend. In addition to weeks of classroom training, each student will be prepared for the work force. They will get career planning services, roughly 20 hours a week to do outside projects, employer network events and a review of the student’s portfolio.

“The curriculum is designed to take you from zero to hero,” Haines said. “Again depending on your experience and background.”

The goal is once a student completes the program they will be able to find a job quickly. An entry-level position starts at around $55,000 a year and instructors say the yearly salary can easily go into the six figures.

For more information about the fin-tech boot-camp program at UNC Charlotte click here.

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