Harrisburg University-backed firm NuPaths charts pathway for IT careers

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NuPaths LLC, a for-profit company co-founded by Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, aims to provide IT certifications to high school graduates and people changing careers.

The company’s programs can be completed in three to six month and are designed to polish students’ skills in areas such as help-desk support, software testing and IT security.

“It’s different than a degree program. We’re focused on very specific IT job roles,” said Andy Petroski, a company co-founder and senior new product development consultant at the university.

For students who lack the time or don’t have tens of thousands of dollars for a four-year degree program, NuPaths offers a quicker, lower-cost option. It is slated to cost about $5,000 per student when it opens up enrollment this summer for the fall semester.

For employers, NuPaths offers a potential source of entry-level workers in a tight labor market.

The need for people to fill tech-related jobs is expected to grow nationally as companies put greater emphasis on cloud computing, data storage and information security. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects job growth of 13 percent job, or about 557,100 new IT jobs, between 2016 and 2026.

Some of those IT jobs will be created in Central Pennsylvania at companies like Capital BlueCross in Susquehanna Township.

“We are in constant need of quality employees in all aspects of information technology,” said Scott Frank, the health insurer’s chief information officer. “NuPaths gives us a perfect channel to find qualified candidates for employment who understand the fundamentals and can be further trained by us, if necessary.”

NuPaths also could serve as a staff development option for companies in need of more advanced IT certifications for workers.

“We’re creating schedules based on the demands of specific audiences,” Petroski said. “It could be for a specific employer or workforce development group.”

A need for options

NuPaths launched a pilot program last month serving nine local high school students from six school districts at Harrisburg University to help prepare for the broader rollout of the certification programs.

The pilot class, which runs through May, is teaching students how to be tech support specialists. The curriculum focuses on helping consumers and businesses with computer hardware and software installation and maintenance, as well as troubleshooting problems.

Petroski expects strong demand for enrollment in the fall, especially for tech support training. Nearly every business today has growing needs for tech support jobs to oversee company networks.

As enrollment grows, NuPaths expects to add more programs, which could lead to more specialized training. To offer some advanced training, NuPaths may need to partner with national or global experts to teach online programs.

“Technology changes all the time, so part of our scaling will be based off the removal or changing of programs that may not fit as well in the future,” Petroski said.

He co-founded NuPaths with Pankaj Agarwal, who previously served as CEO and managing director at Mindteck, an IT services firm based in India with an office in Cumberland County.

Chuck Russell, president and CEO of the Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania, expects this type of education alternative will do well in the midstate, especially because it is linked to a four-year university with growing programs in science, technology, engineering and math.

“It’s a challenge to find talent in the region that is trained on the most modern tools and technology,” he said. “Technology turns over every 18 to 24 months and it’s very challenging for an organization to have people with the necessary skills … Shorter programs that are concentrated and can focus on new tech offer a lot more agility.”

Russell believes NuPaths also could be a cheaper alternative for employers that might depend on online courses, tech conferences and multi-day bootcamps to train employees.

NuPaths said custom programs will be negotiated individually with each company. Costs will depend on the type of program, the number of employees and the length of the agreement, Petroski said.

As the Trump administration cracks down on the use of a visa program known as H-1B that allows companies to hire foreign workers, NuPaths’ programs also could help train talent needed to fill skill gaps in the STEM workforce, Russell said.

The H-1B program, which was established to help U.S. companies attract foreign talent when they couldn’t find homegrown workers, is lottery-based with 85,000 available visas each year.

Diversification

For young people, NuPaths offers a way to enter the workforce sooner and reduce the burden of college debt, Russell added. Younger workers might be able to buy homes faster and make other purchases sooner, which helps the local economy.

“Think about the amount of disposable income you don’t earn when you’re in college for four years,” Russell said. “I’m not saying a four-year degree is not valuable. Four years is a big investment and (college) is not built for everyone.”

It’s a message more people appear to be heeding.

Nationally, the number of students in colleges and universities has been falling for most of this decade, according to the National Student Clearinghouse, which tracks student enrollment. There were about 18.8 million students enrolled in higher education last fall, down from about 20.2 million five years ago.

Harrisburg University is currently swimming against the tide. Spring enrollment included 5,375 students, up from 4,140 students a year ago, said President Eric Darr.

Darr sees NuPaths as a way to hedge against the risk of declining enrollment and to expose prospective students to the university. Students in a NuPaths program could take credits for completing a certification program and count them toward a longer degree program.

Darr hopes those students will choose Harrisburg University, although there is no guarantee.

As a co-founder of NuPaths, the university is primarily serving as an in-kind investor contributing classroom space, program marketing, personnel and advice.

As it grows, NuPaths plans to hire its own staff. And its certification programs eventually could be taught outside of the university’s Harrisburg and Philadelphia campuses, including on-site for business partners.

In addition, Petroski also said he could see affiliating with other schools, such as community colleges, where individual certifications from NuPaths could be offered.

Harrisburg University will retain minority ownership in NuPaths, which includes an undisclosed portion of the startup’s revenue.

“NuPaths represents a way for HU to diversify its revenue sources,” Darr said. “NuPaths represents a new channel for HU to distribute our content.”