Accelerate Cleared Talent Deployment with the SDE Pathway
The Software Development & Engineering Pathway (SDE) is the proven model designed to accelerate your time-to-hire by leveraging existing security clearances and validating mission-ready technical skills for day one.
View The Veteran-Focused Detailed Case StudyThe Trusted Model:
Mitigating Risk, Maximizing ROI
The SDE Pathway bypasses the crippling delays of the traditional defense pipeline. We reduce risk and accelerate time-to-hire by implementing a validated, two-step model.
The Strategic Advantage
Built for Defense. Validated by Research.
The SDE Pathway isn’t a training vendor relationship — it integrates into your talent pipeline as a compliance and retention asset.
- Approved RTI for Registered Apprenticeships: The SDE program satisfies the Related Technical Instruction requirement for a federally approved Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) — turning training into a compliance tool, not a cost center.
- Cloud-Hosted, Human-Led: Every session is live instruction inside Codecraft Classroom — a purpose-built cloud environment with hands-on labs and isolated sandboxes. No pre-recorded content. No self-paced drift.
- Partner Reporting: You have full visibility into cohort attendance, progress, and performance milestones throughout the program — not just at graduation.
- NSF SBIR-Validated Methodology: Our curriculum and delivery model were developed through a three-phase NSF SBIR award and a UCF Learning Sciences research partnership — not assembled from a template.
- Recruit First: Target candidates who already hold security clearance — then validate their technical skills through enrollment before your final hiring commitment.
Proven Outcomes
Pressure-Tested in a Live Defense Context
The SDE Pathway was built in partnership with Northrop Grumman and validated against real hiring outcomes — not a classroom simulation.
- 95% Employment Rate: 40 of 42 graduates placed — documented outcomes from the Northrop Grumman SDE cohorts.
- Academic Recognition: SDE (formerly VEST) graduates earn 3 college credit hours at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (CESC 300) toward a BS in Software Engineering.
- Program Cost: $7,605 total. The course is approved on regional ETPL lists in Florida and Oklahoma, with support and approvals subject to regional workforce board budget, approval, and client qualification.
- 16-Week Delivery: Live, cloud-based instruction on your timeline — faster than a traditional hire cycle.
- FDOE Licensed: Delivered by Codecraft Institute (CIE License #13242) — meeting the post-secondary compliance standards required by Fortune 500 primes and government contracts.