Progress (NASDAQ: PRGS) has today announced the release of Progress® OpenEdge® Developer Kit: Classroom Edition, a downloadable application development toolkit for the next generation of business application developers.

In an effort to expand their knowledge of business application development and foster growth, the toolkit gives students, new developers and future entrepreneurs free access to a package of powerful application development tools that are simple to learn and use.

Schools and universities are faced with a difficult task – making sure that the technology students of today are ready to solve the problems of tomorrow using tools and technologies that are either under development or do not currently exist.

Jerry Rulli, Chief Operating Officer at Progress. said:

“For more than 30 years, Progress has enabled application developers to harness the latest technology to turn their big ideas into business reality. With the release of the Classroom Edition of the OpenEdge Developer Kit, our goal is to continue to inspire the next generation of developer ‘entrepreneurs’.”

“This free offering provides today’s students with the opportunity to become tomorrow’s leaders by giving them unique access to the most innovative, enterprise-class development tools available, including Progress OpenEdge.”

In particular, the job market for mobile application developers is expected to skyrocket by 32 percent from 2010 through 2020, creating close to 300,000 new positions, heralding one of the decade’s largest increases for any occupation. Using the Classroom Edition of the Progress OpenEdge Developer Kit, technology students, recent graduates and new developers can hone their skills, developing business applications for any device, including a wide range of mobile platforms.

Progress OpenEdge is a complete development platform to build dynamic, business process-enabled applications for secure deployment across any platform, mobile device and Cloud

In addition to the downloadable package of application developments tools, Progress is also providing complimentary education offerings through seminars, boot camps and direct access to Progress OpenEdge developers. The first seminar will be held at Telerik Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria on October 17-18, 2015.

To learn more about Progress OpenEdge Developer Kit: Classroom Edition and related training opportunities, visit: https://www.progress.com/openedge/classroom-edition.