Most college web design students never touch real hosting. They work in sandboxes, on localhost, building sites that never see the light of day, which, in many ways, can feel like learning to drive in a parked car.
But Fort Lewis College’s ART 352: Elements of Web Design class broke through that barrier after making a helpful connection at a recent local WordPress Meetup. Instead, these 10 students experienced something more that college programs can’t afford to provide: professional-grade hosting to build and launch their first truly live, career-ready portfolio websites using the WordPress open-source platform.
No simulations. No placeholders. Just working sites, running on the same infrastructure that powers enterprise businesses, donated by Kinsta.
“Rarely have I seen such big smiles in the classroom as I did the day we projected each student’s working Kinsta-hosted site on the big screen,” Professor Del Zartner says of the Fort Lewis College Art & Design Department.
The impact showed up immediately in the work. Students gained hands-on experience with user interface (UI), accessibility, and even basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) while troubleshooting in a live setting. They gained the kind of confidence that only comes from shipping something that actually works.
“Getting this practice made me see that it’s more feasible than I thought and sparked [my] interest,” says student Amelia Miller.
For students new to the field, the experience proved foundational. “I didn’t know a lot about web design before this class, the ability to use a hosting site like Kinsta to build a real website really helped me grow my knowledge of the inner workings of web design,” another student, Maggie Little, says.
Paige Brown notes the difference from their previous class setup: “Managed hosting like Kinsta made the entire process very smooth and issue-free. I gave up on our previous hosting site and just started over using Kinsta.”
And her frustration with the “previous hosting site” isn’t unique; it’s simply the reality most web design programs settle for.
The real cost of fake environments
Hosting costs real money. So students build on localhost, work in sandboxes, or use stripped-down “educational” platforms that bear little resemblance to what they’ll encounter in their first job. They learn theory without context and workflows without consequences.
For Professor Zartner, the hosting barrier posed a budget issue and hindered students from actually preparing for the work ahead. Front-end designers still need to understand the technical basics of hosting, deployment, and site management; their future employers and clients expect it.
Access to Kinsta’s professional hosting changed what was possible in the classroom. Students truly experienced the publishing process. Troubleshooting real issues. They learned what breaks and how to fix them.
“Having access to powerful, professional hosting through Kinsta eliminates these difficulties and replaces them with possibilities,” Zartner says. “It catapulted their understanding forward.”
“It was a pleasure to help Del and her students with hosting from Kinsta. I know what it is like getting started in this profession. The creative and technical challenges are already pretty high. Add the cost and complexity of web hosting to the mix, and you have a recipe for quitting before the work really starts. It’s awesome to see their potential unlocked by giving them access to the right tools for the job. I look forward to continuing our partnership with Fort Lewix College and helping prepare the next generation of web professionals.” Roger Williams
Building career paths beyond sites
Roger Williams, Kinsta’s Partnerships and Community Manager for North America, donated his time to speak with the class about both hosting features and career paths. He shared how contributing to open-source projects like WordPress opens doors that many students don’t even know exist yet.
“Partnering with Kinsta here in Durango means, in part, partnering with [Williams],” Zartner says. “He offered deep insight into how getting involved with an open source project like WordPress can lead to meaningful opportunities.”
The partnership changed what’s possible for the class and how educational institutions prepare students for the modern web. When barriers like hosting costs disappear, students stop pretending and start building. They learn by doing, failing safely, and shipping real work before they ever interview for their first job.
Kinsta built its platform so developers could ship with confidence. The same infrastructure that powers enterprise businesses works just as well for students building their first portfolio.
