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Apple picks Mesa school to help create apps

Posted at 4:58 AM, Sep 19, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-19 09:56:46-04

It's a diverse group of students -- all ages from all walks of life, all in the class to learn one thing: how to make apps.

"Whatever app you're thinking that you'd like to do, that you know isn't out there or maybe you're improving on something else," said Doctor Linda D. Collins with Mesa Community College.

The school is one of six colleges in the country handpicked by Apple to start this class. Those apps you get on your iPhone or iPad -- these students are making them.

Edward Vegas is a sophomore in the class.

"When you can get your device, plug it in and actually run an app that you developed and you can see the pieces of code coming to life on the screen, it's probably one of the best feelings you can have," said Vegas.

The first class filled up fast so the school added more trying to meet the demand. The demand for people who can actually do this job is out there.

"We're seeing, taking a look at data that's out there, that software application developers make around $89,000 a year," said Collins. "That's not something that they’ll be doing in 10 or 15 years. It's something they'll be able to do fairly quickly if they're really good at it."

Reps from Apple will be at the school later this month to see how the program is going. The next class that starts in October only has five seats left.