Year Up Check-In 2015: Continued Growth and Innovation

As the Peirce – Year Up partnership is well into its second year, the program continues to break ground in innovative areas that are preparing students for careers in cutting edge fields.

If you’re not familiar with Year Up, it is a non-profit organization founded in 2000 that connects low-income young adults to career opportunities in corporate America. The program combines hands-on skill development, college credit, and corporate internships to prepare students for success in professional careers and higher education. Students who enroll gain key soft skills, like networking and teambuilding, along with hard skills through Peirce coursework, like business and IT knowledge along with customized training from Year Up and our corporate partners.

Year Up By the Numbers
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Currently there are 33 students in the program completing internships with corporate partners such as Comcast, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America among others. Year Up, Philadelphia is slated to enroll 50 new and motivated students in the Fall.

In 2014, we graduated two cohorts of 13 students from the Philadelphia program. 100% of graduates re-matriculated into college after graduation. About 40% of our 2014 graduates had job offers upon graduation, and Year Up works with the others to secure job opportunities.  

One of the more innovative developments is the launch of the anti-money laundering career track. We have a corporate partner that has a need in this area. They want us to bring them talented students that can learn and grow in this job sector. This new initiative, which was first piloted in Year Up, NYC, will combine training from Peirce, the Year Up program, and the corporate partner, and students will begin this program in the summer.

Anti-money laundering deals with how an institution creates checks and balances to ensure that people aren’t committing a variety of fraudulent activities. This area of practice requires examining detailed public records, learning how to piece together information from disparate sources, the ability to synthesize, clear writing and communication, and, of course, acute attention to detail.

We anticipate continuing to develop the Peirce-Year Up anti-money laundering initiative by learning what the corporate partner needs and how Peirce and Year up can respond to those needs by preparing students.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Year Up – Peirce College partnership and how you can participate, you can complete an interest form online, contact the recruitment manager, Craig Smith at 215.670.9394, or visit the Year Up office in Alumni Hall.