When Flatiron School was born it was based on one simple idea – that while talent and motivation are evenly distributed among our diverse population, a single approach to education all but guarantees that opportunity is not. That the “one size fits all” approach to education doesn’t work. People are different — they learn differently, have different aspirations, and have different resources available to them to pursue those aspirations.
From the beginning we knew that if we wanted to build a meaningful and enduring educational institution we need to focus on two things — Outcomes and Access. We didn’t have ivory towers or the ability to grant fancy degrees, so we had to start with a maniacal focus on student outcomes. We’re proud to be the first school to publish independently verified outcomes data and offer a money back guarantee for an online education, and will never be done focusing and innovating in this area. But we’ve always known that great outcomes aren’t interesting without access. That our goal wasn’t just to create an efficient way for people to move laterally in their careers, but rather to build a catapult of economic mobility. So we partnered with organizations like the City of New York, Facebook the Cognizant Foundation, and others to not just deliver outcomes, but make those outcomes available to students who previously didn’t have access to them.
For our first five years, we worked on nothing but those two things, until we felt confident enough in our ability to deliver those transformative outcomes to diverse groups of students at scale. And that’s when we decided to join WeWork.
Being part of WeWork has been nothing short of remarkable. Over three short years, we grew to operate four disciplines in campuses across 8 cities and serve thousands of active students between our online and campus programs. And we accomplished that while staying true to our mission by launching countless scholarships and partnerships only because of the incredible support we received from the WeWork staff and community. But it’s time for a new chapter.
So, after three remarkable years, we’re excited to announce that Flatiron School will return to operating as an independent organization, backed by Carrick Capital Partners. After years of geographic expansion we, like WeWork, decided that it’s time to focus our energy on our existing programs and students. We sought out a partner that believed in our mission, and we’re incredibly lucky to have found that in Carrick.
Throughout this process we’ve been grateful to have received a tremendous amount of interest in supporting Flatiron from various potential partners. But among the many things that stood out about Carrick’s team was their alignment with our mission of helping people pursue a better life through education. This was evident from our earliest conversations — where most potential partners wanted first to understand our growth strategy and drill into financials, Carrick’s team started by diving into curriculum and outcomes data and getting to know our head of Career Services.
As for what’s next, we’re looking forward to deepening our presence within our existing communities and focusing on providing those communities with life-changing education and career support. It’s more important than ever that we leverage education as a force for positive change — in people’s careers, in their lives, and in the world.
Thank you to the students, staff and partners who have been a part of this journey over the past eight years. We’re looking forward to what’s next.
