Outcomes & Placement Dashboard
We monitor, verify, and document career transitions of our graduates. Explore placement metrics and before/after compensation adjustments.
Cohort Outcomes Summary
The following table highlights the graduation rates, job placement outcomes (within 180 days of graduation), and salary increases across our core specialization tracks:
| Specialization Track | Grad Rate | Placement (180d) | Salary Increase | Certification | Top Employers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Science & AI | 94% | 72% | +70% ($48,000 to $82,000) | Microsoft DP-900 (Azure Data) | Amazon, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase |
| DevOps & Cloud Computing | 91% | 68% | +76% ($50,000 to $88,000) | Microsoft AZ-900 / AZ-104 | Lockheed Martin, Capital One |
| Cybersecurity & SOC | 89% | 78% | +80% ($40,000 to $72,000) | CompTIA Security+ / AZ-500 | Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics |
Verified Graduate Case Studies
Shamim Kazi
Data Science & AI — June 2024
“Sky States helped me bridge the gap between legacy operations and modern data engineering.”
The Challenge: Had zero programming or database knowledge and found SQL intimidating.
Program Experience: The structured roadmap and hands-on capstone projects helped bridge the theory gap. Mock interviews built my confidence.
Time to First Job: 1 month after graduation (Secured role on January 15, 2025)
Sarah Jenkins
Data Science & AI — July 2024
“The flexible schedules and supportive mentors helped me transition back into the workforce on my own terms.”
The Challenge: Struggled with professional confidence after a long career gap to raise children.
Program Experience: Loved the collaborative environment. Excel Power Query and Tableau dashboard projects rebuilt my technical confidence.
Time to First Job: 1 month after graduation (Secured role on February 20, 2025)
Priya Sharma
Cybersecurity & SOC — September 2024
“Going from answering frantic customer calls to monitoring enterprise networks was a life-changing shift.”
The Challenge: Burned out by support queues with zero programming or cybersecurity background.
Program Experience: Learned to capture live network traffic with Wireshark and set up log routing with Elastic SIEM from scratch.
Time to First Job: 2 months after graduation (Secured role on May 10, 2025)
Marcus Torres
Data Science & AI — August 2024
“At 41, pivoting to a predictable 40-hour office week gave me control of my life back.”
The Challenge: Working 60-hour weeks in retail; struggled to conceptualize relational database logic.
Program Experience: Mentors helped me map out physical store inventory as relational tables, making SQL database joins click instantly.
Time to First Job: 1 month after graduation (Secured role on March 12, 2025)
Dieter Vance
Data Science & AI — November 2024
“Developing real-world capstone portfolios made my transition from mechanical to data science seamless.”
The Challenge: Traditional manufacturing background with no Python or machine learning experience.
Program Experience: Built predictive maintenance models using sensor datasets, which matched what corporate recruiters wanted.
Time to First Job: Graduated and secured role immediately (May 18, 2025)
Elena Rodriguez
Data Science & AI — July 2024
“If you can explain scientific concepts to 30 teenagers, you can present data insights in a corporate boardroom.”
The Challenge: Severe classroom burnout and lack of corporate environment experience.
Program Experience: Reframed my classroom presentation skills into data communication. SQL labs helped me conquer syntax anxiety.
Time to First Job: 2 months after graduation (Secured role on March 5, 2025)
Rebecca Allen
Data Science & AI — December 2024
“The flexible schedules and supportive mentors helped me transition back into the workforce on my own terms.”
The Challenge: Struggled with confidence after a long career gap to raise children.
Program Experience: Loved the collaborative environment. Excel Power Query and Tableau dashboard projects rebuilt my professional confidence.
Time to First Job: Graduated and secured role immediately (June 15, 2025)
Kevin Ramirez
DevOps & Cloud Computing — February 2025
“Automating cloud resource deployment made me realize the power of modern DevOps.”
The Challenge: Stuck in repetitive manual spreadsheet processing; wanted to move into automation.
Program Experience: Mastered Linux administration, Git workflows, and infrastructure as code using Terraform.
Time to First Job: Graduated and secured role immediately (August 20, 2025)
Sophia Turner
Cybersecurity & SOC — October 2024
“Blending my auditing background with cybersecurity controls made me a unique candidate.”
The Challenge: Good at financial auditing but lacked knowledge of IT controls and cybersecurity frameworks.
Program Experience: Studied ISO 27001, SOC 2 compliance, and practiced risk assessment methodologies on simulated company architectures.
Time to First Job: Graduated and secured role immediately (April 15, 2025)
Andrew Collins
DevOps & Cloud Computing — August 2024
“I went from closing support tickets to designing highly available cloud architectures.”
The Challenge: Trapped in password resets and ticketing loops; wanted to build scalable cloud systems.
Program Experience: Built containerized applications using Docker and deployed them to AWS ECS clusters.
Time to First Job: Graduated and secured role immediately (February 10, 2025)
Ahmed Hassan
Data Science & AI — September 2024
“Custom Python scripting allowed me to unlock insights that standard marketing platforms couldn't.”
The Challenge: Used analytics tools but couldn't write custom statistical models or programmatic ETL pipelines.
Program Experience: Learned pandas for data cleaning and implemented A/B testing frameworks in Python.
Time to First Job: Graduated and secured role immediately (March 15, 2025)
Melissa Carter
Cybersecurity & SOC — November 2024
“Sky States helped me bridge the gap between legal frameworks and technical security controls.”
The Challenge: Understand regulations but lacked the technical network security foundation.
Program Experience: Gained hands-on experience with threat modeling, vulnerability scanning, and incident response planning.
Time to First Job: Graduated and secured role immediately (May 20, 2025)
Daniel Brooks
Cybersecurity & SOC — January 2025
“The tactical analysis mindset is the same; Sky States just gave me the digital tools to execute it.”
The Challenge: Strong physical security background but needed to translate skills to the digital domain.
Program Experience: Studied network defense, malware analysis basics, and threat hunting workflows using SIEM tools.
Time to First Job: Graduated and secured role immediately (July 10, 2025)
Priya Nair
DevOps & Cloud Computing — September 2024
“The structured career roadmap and mock interviews helped me stand out as an international candidate.”
The Challenge: Struggled with the highly competitive job market and visa sponsorship requirements.
Program Experience: Built deep expertise in CI/CD pipeline automation and Kubernetes orchestration.
Time to First Job: Graduated and secured role immediately (March 22, 2025)
Jason Miller
Data Science & AI — June 2024
“Transitioning from theoretical research to building production data pipelines was incredibly rewarding.”
The Challenge: Proficient in statistics but had no experience with SQL databases or production deployment.
Program Experience: Configured database schemas, wrote optimized SQL queries, and deployed models using FastAPI.
Time to First Job: Graduated and secured role immediately (December 15, 2024)
Amanda Lewis
Cybersecurity & SOC — December 2024
“I went from configuring switches to designing secure enterprise network perimeters.”
The Challenge: Understood basic cabling and routing but wanted to specialize in enterprise defense.
Program Experience: Configured firewall rules, intrusion detection systems (IDS), and secure VPN tunnels.
Time to First Job: Graduated and secured role immediately (June 10, 2025)
Ashton Taylor
DevOps & Cloud Computing — November 2024
“Automating system health checks and learning script-based deployments completely upgraded my career.”
The Challenge: Tired of manual UI testing; wanted to automate system reliability and monitoring.
Program Experience: Learned infrastructure monitoring with Prometheus/Grafana and log aggregation with ELK stack.
Time to First Job: 3 months after graduation (Secured role on August 15, 2025)
Dawn Adam
DevOps & Cloud Computing — October 2024
“Learning to think in terms of global cloud infrastructure allowed me to take a massive career step.”
The Challenge: Comfortable with local servers but lacked multi-region cloud architecture experience.
Program Experience: Designed auto-scaling, fault-tolerant architectures on AWS and Azure using Serverless components.
Time to First Job: 4 months after graduation (Secured role on August 20, 2025)
Lisa Cheng
Data Science & AI — January 2025
“Using machine learning to predict supply chain bottlenecks made me an invaluable asset to my team.”
The Challenge: Struggled with manual inventory forecasting using basic spreadsheets.
Program Experience: Learned Python time-series forecasting and built dashboard reports in Power BI.
Time to First Job: 3 months after graduation (Secured role on October 10, 2025)
James O'Connor
Cybersecurity & SOC — August 2024
“Sky States took me from patrolling buildings to securing digital endpoints.”
The Challenge: Had no computer science background or corporate experience.
Program Experience: Studied operating system security, active directory configuration, and threat analysis.
Time to First Job: 5 months after graduation (Secured role on July 15, 2025)