What Make School does

Make School (legally MakeSchool.org) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization (EIN: 61-1919324) incorporated in the United States with a stated mission of creating upward mobility for under-resourced and underrepresented students through science and technology education. Its principal product was the Bachelor's in Applied Computer Science (BACS), a two-year, project-based, career-focused degree program that prepared students for high-earning technology careers. The organization highlighted strong graduate outcomes, reporting starting salaries averaging over $100,000 annually at top-tier technology employers.

In August 2021, Make School transferred the BACS program to Dominican University of California, exiting direct operation of its core educational product. Following the transfer, Make School continues to exist as a nonprofit focused on scholarship disbursement and donor stewardship for the original BACS cohort, and maintains a residual online courses platform called Mediabook that distributes self-directed learning content globally.

The organization operates on a donation-based revenue model (charitable contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporate sponsors) with no disclosed pricing for programs. Its go-to-market approach is mission-driven outreach to underrepresented student populations and donor communities. Distribution occurs through two channels: the Dominican University partnership (institutional/partner-led, domestic U.S.) for the degree program, and the Mediabook online platform (self-serve, global reach) for online courses. The organization presents visual trust signals via employer logos including Microsoft, Apple, and NASA, which contextually represent graduate-employing destinations rather than direct customers.

Name

Make School

Legal name

MakeSchool.org

Website

https://makeschool.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Short description

MakeSchool.org is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that previously operated a two-year Bachelor's in Applied Computer Science program for under-resourced students, transferring it to Dominican University in 2021, and now focuses on scholarship administration and online courses via Mediabook.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education / Technology Education

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Educational Services (611), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (61131)

akta.pro primary industry

STEM, Digital Literacy & Maker Education Nonprofits (BPAGADAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Certification & Credentialed Creator Programs (MPACALAI)

Keywords

• Technology education
• Nonprofit scholarships
• Applied computer science
• Underrepresented students
• Career pathway programs

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN: 61-1919324), Make School generates revenue through charitable donations from individuals, foundations, and corporate sponsors. Donated funds are specifically allocated to provide tuition support for students who were part of the BACS cohort while it was hosted at Make School.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Make School (MakeSchool.org) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization that operated a two-year, project-based Bachelor's in Applied Computer Science (BACS) program targeting under-resourced and underrepresented students. As of August 2021, the BACS program was transferred to Dominican University of California. Make School.org now primarily operates a scholarship program providing tuition support for former BACS cohort students and maintains the Mediabook online courses platform.

Product overview

Make School.org is a non-profit educational organization that operated a Bachelor's in Applied Computer Science (BACS) program - a two-year, project-based, career-focused degree designed to prepare students for high-paying technology careers. The BACS program was the primary educational offering, targeting under-resourced and underrepresented students. As of August 2021, the BACS program was transferred to Dominican University of California. Make School.org now continues its mission through a scholarship program that provides tuition support for former BACS cohort students. The organization also maintains an online courses platform (MediaBook) referenced in their navigation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Scholarship Program A tuition support program for students who were part of the BACS cohort while it was hosted at Make School, supporting underrepresented backgrounds in technology education. Funded through charitable donations from individuals, foundations, and corporate sponsors.
• Online Courses Platform (Mediabook) Online courses available through the Mediabook platform for self-directed learning, distributed globally as a self-serve offering.

Quantifiable outcome

• Graduates achieve starting salaries averaging over $100k annually at top tier technology companies

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Dominican University of CaliforniacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2021The Bachelor's in Applied Computer Science (BACS) program transitioned from Make School to Dominican University of California in August 2021. Make School continues to support students from underrepresented backgrounds through its scholarship program, while Dominican University now operates the core degree program.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Emerging players

• edX: edX is a nonprofit online learning platform founded by Harvard and MIT offering university-level courses and degree programs, providing an analogous nonprofit-driven, mission-aligned online education model for computer science and technology topics.
• Flatiron School: Flatiron School offers immersive software engineering and data science bootcamps with career services; its curriculum model and employer placement focus parallel Make School's BACS approach, although it operates as a for-profit.
• App Academy: App Academy is a coding bootcamp offering project-based, career-focused software engineering training with income-share-agreement options for under-resourced students, overlapping Make School's applied-CS curriculum and outcomes-driven positioning.
• Holberton School: Holberton School is a project-based software engineering school with a similar applied, career-focused curriculum model; while structured as a for-profit, its two-year, project-based, tuition-supported approach overlaps materially with Make School's BACS pedagogy.

Direct peers

• Per Scholas: Per Scholas is a nonprofit that provides tuition-free technology training to adults from under-resourced communities, mirroring Make School's mission of creating technology career pathways for underrepresented populations through donor- and employer-supported programming.
• Year Up: Year Up is a nonprofit workforce-development organization that trains young adults from under-resourced backgrounds for careers in technology and business, with similar mission-driven focus, employer partnerships, and career-outcome-driven model comparable to Make School's scholarship-supported approach.
• NPower: NPower is a nonprofit that delivers tech skills training and career placement for veterans and underrepresented young adults, with a comparable nonprofit structure, donor-funded model, and career-outcome-driven value proposition similar to Make School.

Broad incumbents

• General Assembly: General Assembly is an established provider of bootcamps and short-form courses in software engineering, data, and design with broad employer relationships and career placement services, serving as a scaled incumbent in the same applied tech-education category as Make School.
• Coursera: Coursera is a large-scale online learning platform offering degree programs and credentials from accredited universities, including applied computer science, comparable to the Mediabook self-serve online course channel that Make School operates.

Others

• Dominican University of California: Dominican University of California now operates the BACS program that Make School originally ran, serving as the institutional delivery partner for Make School's scholarship-supported students and the most direct strategic/operational counterpart in the educational mission.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Make School