The fast-tracking angle is interesting: this is essentially high school plus community college rolled into one, but with an apparent hope that it'll be closer to a 4-year-college degree in quality due to greater preparation in the high-school years and coordination between the high-school and college curricula (it's one six-year curriculum, not a 4-year HS followed by 2-year college). Plus some employability boost from IBM's preferential hiring.
I do worry a bit about lock-in at an early age, though. A 14-year-old is young enough that a decent proportion may turn out not to really want a career in computer science after all, especially because I suspect decisions on whether to go here or not will in many cases be either made by or strongly pressured by parents. Will the curriculum be broad enough that a 20-year-old who's successfully completed it could plausibly get a job doing something other than working for IBM or a similar company? Or could they even leave at 18 with a normal HS degree and go to a 4-year college in a different major? The article is unclear about whether the 6-year-to-associates-degree part is mandatory, or if there's a possibility of opting to earn a normal high-school diploma after 4.
At that early age I wonder how much CS specific training is going to be given. Also with IBM's current focus on not just being a tech company anymore I would dream that the education is a bit diversified.
Maybe having a specific goal to drive for will make it easier students and teachers to focus on a certain goal but I don't think that it'll make the students less able to switch tracks if needed.
I do worry a bit about lock-in at an early age, though. A 14-year-old is young enough that a decent proportion may turn out not to really want a career in computer science after all, especially because I suspect decisions on whether to go here or not will in many cases be either made by or strongly pressured by parents. Will the curriculum be broad enough that a 20-year-old who's successfully completed it could plausibly get a job doing something other than working for IBM or a similar company? Or could they even leave at 18 with a normal HS degree and go to a 4-year college in a different major? The article is unclear about whether the 6-year-to-associates-degree part is mandatory, or if there's a possibility of opting to earn a normal high-school diploma after 4.