Quicken Loans Partners with Grand Circus, CSforALL to Train 5,000 Detroit Students the Basics of Computer Coding

DETROIT, May 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- In September 2017, Quicken Loans, the nation's largest mortgage lender, announced a bold goal – to ensure 15,000 Detroit students receive computer science training over the next five years. Today, the company took a major step toward that goal through partnerships with Grand Circus, a professional technology training institute, and CSforALL, the nation's premier organization dedicated to making computer science literacy a central part of the K-12 educational experience.

"Creating jobs and opportunity is a major part of our mission in Detroit," said Laura Grannemann, Vice President of Strategic Investments for the Quicken Loans Community Investment Fund. "We are hyper-focused on building education programs that will prepare Detroit students today for the jobs of tomorrow. Our partnerships with Grand Circus and CSforALL are important steps toward not only training thousands of Detroit students, but also creating pathways for them to access computer science and engineering education, and ultimately high-tech jobs."

The company has partnered with Grand Circus to introduce coding to 5,000 Detroit middle and high school students in June during Detroit Startup Week (DSW), the city's largest technology festival. The program, Code{D}etroit, will engage 1,250 youth each day, by preparing and introducing them to modern coding fundamentals, including data types, conditional statements and simple executable demands, essential for both front- and back-end development. In addition, Grand Circus will work with Quicken Loans to secure and train volunteers who will become instructors for ongoing trainings beyond DSW.

To continue highlighting the importance of consistent technology training for Detroit students, Quicken Loans is a lead sponsor of the CSforALL Summit 2018, which will take place at Wayne State University in October. The summit is a call-to-action for organizations from across the country to step up in support of advancing computer science proficiency in today's youth. Last year's event secured specific, measurable commitments from over 170 organizations to deliver computer science programming and teacher training. With this year's attention on Detroit, the CSforALL Summit is positioned to make a massive impact on a city that is rapidly picking up speed as a national leader in the technology space.

Code{D}etroit and CSforALL are building on a foundation of computer science education programs that Quicken Loans has supported, all with the ultimate goal of growing high-demand skills among Detroit students.

Through QSTEM, a two-tiered program designed by the Quicken Loans Technology team, the company partners with DAPCEP (Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program) to provide hands-on experiential learning in technology and coding to Detroit 6th-8th graders, pairing them with a Quicken Loans mentor. At the end of 7 weeks, students walk away with a computer that they built with their own hands. Since announcing its September commitment, the company has grown QSTEM by nearly 20 percent, with continued expansion planned.

Additionally, Quicken Loans recently announced its support of FIRST, an international youth organization focused on building science and technology skills. The company sponsored the FIRST Robotics Championship, which recently came to Detroit and exposed 15,000+ students to STEM and computer science through the competition. The company also partnered with the Detroit Police Athletic League to create 20 new FIRST teams across 14 Detroit schools. These newly created teams engage hundreds of Detroit elementary and middle school students across the city, building not only their computer science and construction skills, but also soft skills in areas like communication, critical thinking, teamwork and leadership.

"Quicken Loans currently has 120 open technology positions," Grannemann explained. "Problem-solving and critical thinking skills are instrumental to student development broadly, but ensuring we have the brightest minds creating disruptive technologies and solving complex issues in the future is essential for the growth of communities and companies in years to come. Careers in computer science are only expected to grow, and we are dedicated to helping students prepare to meet those needs."

About Quicken Loans

Detroit-based Quicken Loans Inc. is the nation's largest home mortgage lender. The company closed more than $400 billion of mortgage volume across all 50 states from 2013 through 2017. Quicken Loans moved its headquarters to downtown Detroit in 2010. Today, Quicken Loans and its Family of Companies employ more than 17,000 full-time team members in Detroit's urban core. The company generates loan production from web centers located in Detroit, Cleveland and Phoenix. Quicken Loans also operates a centralized loan processing facility in Detroit, as well as its San Diego-based One Reverse Mortgage unit. Quicken Loans ranked highest in the country for customer satisfaction for primary mortgage origination by J.D. Power for the past eight consecutive years, 2010 – 2017, and also ranked highest in the country for customer satisfaction among all mortgage servicers the past four consecutive years, 2014 – 2017.

Quicken Loans was once again named to FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For" list in 2018 and has been included in the magazine's top 1/3rd of companies named to the list for the past 15 consecutive years. The company was also named the #1 place to work in technology in 2017 by Computerworld magazine's "100 Best Places to Work in IT," a recognition it has received 8 times in the past 12 years.

For more information and company news visit QuickenLoans.com/press-room.

SOURCE Quicken Loans