They are not alone. Although young, Telerik Academy School graduates have well-paying jobs, with every third earning well above the Sofia average, according to a 2021 Global Met- rics report. This is thanks to the wide range of transferable skills students develop at the academy. Every fourth graduate occupies a senior role at their company. Most academy graduates still in school say Tel- erik Academy School influenced their decision to continue their education in IT or a related field, with three out of every four graduates over 18 years currently pursuing IT-related majors at university. A number of them sug- gest that what they learned at the academy gives them a significant advantage over their university classmates and helps them breeze through some of the coursework. In the 2022–2023 academic year, free quality digital education was extended to more than 3,000 students in grades 1–12 as Telerik Acad- emy School launched a record 140 courses in 47 towns across Bulgaria. This way, students like Irina who want a future in tech no lon- ger have to commute to Sofia to pursue their dreams.
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Over the past six years, the academy has expanded its educational offerings to cover all of Bulgaria’s districts. More than 20,000 children and young adults have benefited from its programs thanks to support from the America for Bulgaria Foundation, individual and corporate donors, municipalities, schools, local institutions, and nonprofits.
The Global Metrics report points to this ex- pansion as one of the biggest achievements of the program. Its outreach to smaller towns not only contributes to the development of in- dividual participants but also stimulates local economic growth, the report found.
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