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When Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, created Woz U last year, he attracted widespread publicity … and students for his training programs for technology careers.
But when CBS News recently spoke with students and employees, the stories were about typos in coding materials, "live lectures" that were prerecorded and out-of-date, and mentors widely seen as unqualified. The 33-week program costs $13,200, and some students are borrowing to enroll. One former student told CBS of the program, "I feel like this is a $13,000 ebook." An enrollment counselor said of his job: "It is drive, drive, drive the sales."
Wozniak released this statement: "The opinions expressed, and comments made during the story are matters that we do not take lightly. At Woz U, we devise our programs to teach all of our students the skill set to enter the technology industry workforce. We strive to provide a superior student experience, so it’s unfortunate to learn that we did not meet the expectations of some individuals. It’s a concern and disappointment whenever a student doesn’t have a valuable experience in our programs to advance their education. We continue to build upon our education ecosystem so that it will positively impact individuals to start a tech-based career, based on the ongoing dialogue we have with students about their experience. While I am not involved in the day-to-day operations, as co-founder and board member, I meet with our curriculum team to advise them on my education philosophy and vision for the future of tech-based career training. I’ve been discussing the concerns with the curriculum content that were expressed in the story with executives at Woz U, who have assured me that procedures were put in place months ago to address the review and distribution of content before it’s available to students."
