We launched Dev Degree in 2016 with a mission to shake up the traditional experience for computer science education, by combining hands-on experience, self-paced learning, and theoretical foundations.
What does hands-on experience mean?
You'll learn, practice, and work with production software and tools and the innovative teams who build it. We don't believe in bogging you down with busy work or low-value side projects. Instead, we want to help you learn, experiment, and grow your development skills, enabling you to contribute to our product and impact hundreds of millions of people. Pretty cool, right?
You'll work throughout the entire program and have opportunities to grow personally through your social activities at Shopify and education partners.
“We'll teach you current, sought-after software technologies and give you four years of practice building realistic, impactful products.”
Why Dev Degree instead of another computer science program?
Obtaining a degree in computer science is a typical path to becoming a software developer. However, it’s not uncommon to hear that some of the best developers have opted for non-traditional routes or didn’t finish a degree they started. Others follow a formal education route, typically for 4-5 years, and often find it tough to connect the theory they learned in school to their development jobs. That doesn’t mean degrees don’t matter. Many developers value the depth and breadth of formal education that degrees can provide. Degrees are worth the effort - but can be delivered more efficiently. Enter Dev Degree!
We'll teach you current, sought-after software technologies and give you opportunities to practice building realistic, impactful products. Experience matters, and being able to apply what you learn quickly on real-world products is key to mastering skills.
Dev Degree provides the opportunity to fast-track learning and tie theory to real-life product development practice.
Dev Degree Timeline
| YEAR 1 | YEAR 2+ | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Developer skills training at Shopify: Ruby, Rails, JavaScript, React, databases, and more! |
Rotational placements on development teams every 8/12 months. Resulting in 3,800+ hours of hands-on experience across different high-demand development disciplines and products. | ||
| Attend classes at one of our partner university programs to complete your degree! | |||
Why Dev Degree instead of a traditional work-integrated learning program?
There are plenty of work-integrated learning models. In Canada, you'll hear them referred to them as "co-op" programs. There are some important differences between the Dev Degree program structure and these traditional programs.
Dev Degree program structure
Dev Degree students work on development teams at Shopify in parallel with their university studies, instead of alternating terms in the classroom and the workplace like a traditional work-integrated learning program.
Students are granted academic credits for their work at Shopify and graduate with an accredited degree in computer science in only three to four years with 3800+ hours of work experience. Working closely with our university partners, students take three university courses on campus each term and spend ~25 hours each week at Shopify.
On top of this, we will pay your tuition and give you a competitive salary and vacation. That's over $160,000 (CDN) in total financial support.
Shopify-delivered developer skills
The Developer Skills Training Path is a set of Shopify-delivered courses that you take in your first year at Shopify. We design the courses to prepare you for your team placements. The training path takes eight months to complete and gives you a strong foundation.
Shopify work placements
After completing your training path, you will gain hands-on developer experience by joining a team at Shopify. Your Placement Specialist curates your placement, and you’ll be assigned a dedicated mentor for the duration of each placement.
Each placement provides a different experience than the last to ensure you are gaining new perspectives and opportunities to work with new people. Throughout your three to four years in Dev Degree, you will have four team placements with four different mentors.
Carleton University - Bachelor of Computer Science (Honours)
Important to Note:
- You will need to live in Ottawa and commute to classes on Carleton University’s campus (the university is not remote).
- If you’re an international student in Canada, this is the only university partner you can attend.
- To attend this university you need to be a Canadian citizen, Canadian resident, or you will need to obtain a Study permit. For more information, please contact the Carleton University International Student Services Office.
Program Length: a 4 year degree
What you’ll do:
- Your first year at Shopify will be on the Developer Skills Training Path, and then you’ll transition to work as a part-time intern on development teams.
- You will have 4 placements on development teams at Shopify while attending university courses.
Dominican University, Bachelor of Applied Computer Science
Important to Note:
- The ACS program at Dominican is fully remote or in-person, so students can live anywhere in Canada, or specific states in the United States. Please contact Dominican for more details.
- This program is not available for students on a Canadian Study permit or international students living in the US.
Program Length: a 3 year degree
What you’ll do:
- Your first year at Shopify will be on the Developer Skills Training Path, and then you’ll transition to work as a part-time intern on development teams.
- You will have 3 placements on development teams at Shopify while attending university courses.
York University - Bachelor of Applied Science, Digital Technologies
Important to Note:
- This program is an accelerated work learning program, and is intended for people who want more hands-on work experience.
- You will need to commute to York University’s Markham campus during learning block periods (the university is not remote).
- This program is not available for students on a Study permit.
Program Length: a 4 year degree
What you’ll do:
- Learning at York happens in one-week learning blocks twice a semester.
- Your first term (September to December) will be at Shopify on the Developer Skills Training Path. In January, you’ll transition to work as a full-time intern on development teams.
- You will have 5 placements on development teams at Shopify while attending university courses.