Episode 32: August 2018 Bootcamp News

We are rounding up all of the most interesting bootcamp industry news that we read and discussed at Course Report in August! This month we heard about a $43 million fundraise and a big acquisition, we saw the decline of CS degrees in the tech job market, we read about a bunch of interesting alumni who were featured in the news, we looked at how coding bootcamps can help us avoid “robogeddon,” and we celebrated an initiative teaching women in prisons to code. Plus, we’ll talk about all of the new bootcamps in August and our favorite blog posts!

Course Report News

• We published our 2018 Market Sizing Report, which finds that:
  • In 2018, the coding bootcamp market will grow by 20%, to an estimated 20,316 graduates in 2018, up from ~17,000 in 2017.
  • 24 bootcamps work with partners on corporate training; this year, these 24 bootcamps expect to teach an additional 16,593 students (for a total of 36,909) via 634 corporate training partners (growth of 111% since 2017).
  • About 1900 (of the total 20,316 students) will graduate from full-time, online coding bootcamps this year.
• We hosted a live webinar about part-time bootcamps, featuring part-time graduates from New York Code and Design Academy, Ironhack, and Fullstack Academy.
• On September 5th, we’ll be hosting an in-person panel in New York about getting into a coding bootcamp. That panel will be made up of the admissions teams from 7 schools in NYC.
   

Acquisitions & Fundraises

• Galvanize raised $43.3 million in series D funding, only a few months after raising $32 million in series C, and acquiring Hack Reactor.
• New York-based Flatiron School has acquired Chicago UX Design bootcamp Designation! Flatiron itself was acquired by WeWork earlier this year.
   

CS Degrees vs Coding Bootcamps

• An article on CNBC lists 15 big companies which no longer require applicants to have college degrees, including tech companies Google, Apple and IBM.
• In Forbes, author Dan Schneider wrote about skills vs degrees, and interviews a high school senior who attended JRS Coding School during the summer of his junior year, and is questioning the need to go to college since he already has practical, employable skills.
• DC Tech Stories podcast talks to three engineers who took three different paths into tech – one was self taught, one is college grad, and one is a bootcamp grad!
• TechRepublic put together a guide to hiring job candidates who don’t have a 4 year degree, which looks at how degrees don’t necessarily show what someone knows or can do, and gives tips for hiring managers and job seekers without degrees.
   

Coding Bootcamp Profiles

• Technically DC profiles DC Flatiron School instructor Robert Cobb who talks about his background teaching coding at summer camps and high school, and his experience working as a software engineer for two and a half years.
• USA Today’s Commercial Appeal took a look at Code Crew Code School in Memphis, highlighted their ISA, and profiled a student named Jordan Parker who described the program as “engaging and hands on.”
• KULR8 looks at the importance of learning to code in Missoula, Montana, and highlights Montana Code School instructor Edward Weymouth who says, “There is no one I can think of in any profession that [coding] is not applicable for.”
• Georgia Public Broadcaster profiles DigitalCrafts bootcamp in Atlanta, in a look at how coding bootcamps are filling the labor Gap in Georgia.
• SlugMag did a profile of VSchool with their CEO, Mo Reeder which features some really nice photos of the classroom in Salt Lake City.
• Style Blue Print profiles the female founder and owner of Tech Talent South, Betsy Hauser Idilbi, who is working to make education in tech accessible for everyone.
• The Daily Hive looks at how more Canadians are moving into technology roles, and talks to Lighthouse Labs grads Steve Abouem and Erica Little.
• In Tech World, author Charlotte Jee focused on London coding bootcamp Makers Academy, which is a London coding bootcamp with a job guarantee, interviewing co-founder Ruben Kostucki and a graduate, Anna Holland-Smith, so has worked at the BBC after graduating.
• Forbes contributor, Jonathan Moed looks at how technology can bring more economic equity to South Africa and mentions how locals are learning to code at WeThinkCode coding school which is an extension of 42 in Paris/SF.
   

Bootcamp Tips

• Nick Douglas of LifeHacker explains how coding bootcamps work by highlighting two bootcamp founders–  David Graham of Code Ninjas, which teaches kids 7–14 years old, and Michael Choi of Coding Dojo, which teaches teens and adults.
• A Yahoo guest post from William Hoffman at Value Penguin looks at whether coding bootcamps are worth the time and money.
• Dice looks at whether tech certifications and coding bootcamps are worth the money.
• An article in NewsMax looks at whether income sharing agreements could eliminate student loan debt, gives examples of organizations and bootcamps which offer ISAs, and profiles Vemo Education, a third-party ISA provider.
• EdSurge looks at the US Department of Education’s proposal to remove the “gainful employment” policy, and compares that system to ISAs which also tie student outcomes to institutional accountability.
• Annette Doskow, VP of Admissions at Flatiron School, tells Hypepotamus how prospective students can figure out if coding is the best next step, and what sort of coding bootcamp curriculum and schedule is right for them.
   

Careers in Tech

• An opinion piece in The Hill looks at how rapid retraining, like coding bootcamps could be the solution to Robogeddon! They cite App Academy, Hack Reactor, and Product School that teach high-level software skills in a short time, at affordable prices, and practically guarantees students jobs.
• A Thinkful grad wrote a guest post for Technically Philly about how he switched careers into tech, and gives insight into what others should think about when they are changing careers.
• An article in Technically Philly looks at what tech skills employers are looking for in developers, with tips from 10 executives from Philadelphia startups.
• USA Today looks at how a Glassdoor study found more than half of the country’s top 20 highest paying jobs are in technology. The article looks at how there are many different ways to land a high-paying job, and in tech, it doesn't always require an advanced degree.
• Hypepotamus looks at how bootcamp grads can build their developer network, with an interview with Flatiron School Senior Career Development Counselor Jessica Lava.
• The Independent talks to four startup founders in Singapore to ask if aspiring founders need to learn to code to be successful. At least two of the founders went to coding bootcamps, and they give 4 benefits to learning to code if you are a founder.
   

Women/Diversity in Tech

• Broadly (part of Vice) shares how organizations like Girl Develop It are teaching women in prisons to code to equip inmates with the skills to work as developers.
• The Pittsburgh Post Gazette profiles the Pittsburgh Girl Develop It chapter and looks at the ways people can learn to code in Pittsburgh including Academy Pittsburgh and Tech Elevator.
• BizJournals reports that DevLeague in Honolulu, Hawaii is offering a $1000 diversity scholarship.
• TechRepublic put together a list of career tips for women who are pursuing careers as tech leaders.
• Diginomica catches up with Megan Smith, who was Obama’s CTO and had a big hand in TechHire, and now runs Shift7, a company which promotes participation in technology and tech education. She says “Around 23,000 people will graduate from short courses and coding bootcamps this year, and around 46,000, maybe 50,000, from colleges. We need to take all of those people into our tech sector, all of them.”
• 11 Alive and CBS6 look at how Flatiron School’s new Atlanta, Georgia campus is focusing on diversity, partnering with Opportunity Hub to offer $1 million in scholarships for under-tapped students of color. Applications are open for the first class which starts on September 17.
• Vibe.com announced that Jay Z’s audio engineer, Young Guru, is partnering with Flatiron School, Opportunity Hubs and Rodney Sampson to give away $1 million in scholarships to get 10,000 people of color coding.
   

New Coding Bootcamps + updates

• The University of Denver has launched a 24-week, part-time women-only coding bootcamp in partnership with Trilogy.
• The Digital Journal reported the opening of a new coding bootcamp in Peoria, Arizona offering deferred tuition. Promineo Tech is a part-time, 18-week coding bootcamp covering Java, MySQL, git, debugging, and more.
• A free coding bootcamp is launching in Flanders, Belgium. BeCode, is an 8-month long program and has campuses in Brussels and Charleroi, with plans to launch two more campuses this year.
• A graduate of Actualize in Chicago is starting a new coding bootcamp in Galesburg, Illinois called Main Street Codes, offering back-end web development, front-end web development and mobile app development.
• Coindesk reports that Chaincode Labs will launch a one-week bootcamp to teach developers how to build apps for the Lightning Network, a bitcoin technology, in New York in October.
• A new coding bootcamp is opening in San Joaquin, California. The San Joaquin County Office of Education announced the launch of Code Stack, a 9-month long immersive coding school operated through the Center for Educational Development and Research.
• Georgia Tech announced it will start a program in Gwinnett County, Georgia in January 2019 where students can earn a certificate in various skills like coding, web development, cyber and network security, that could result in higher-paying careers.
• In June, 10 News reported that some students were questioning the quality of education at Origin Code Academy in San Diego, after it was revealed the bootcamp was having paperwork problems with the BPPE. Since then, Origin Code Academy has officially been approved by the BPPE, and 10 News reports that at least two former students have received refunds on their tuition.
• According to Disrupt Africa, Andela coding bootcamp has been selected to take part in an accelerator program, VilCap communities, which equips entrepreneur ecosystem leaders with tools, resources, and connections to catalyze investment impact.
• CAJ news Africa reports that Hyperion Dev has secured an unspecified amount of investment to drive its expansion and is scaling internationally to 40 countries. The in-person school will be rebranded as CoGrammar, while retaining the name HyperionDev for its online coding bootcamp product. The round of funding comes after HyperionDev won first prize in Facebook’s Innovation Challenge, securing $230 000 in funding from Facebook in addition to several grants from Google and the Python Software Foundation.
   

New Bootcamps on Course Report

• Product Faculty - Toronto, Canada
• Pwny Labs - Bali, Indonesia
• Jax Code Academy - Jacksonville, Florida
• Promineo Tech - Peoria, Arizona
• Inventive Academy - Austin, Texas
• Code States - Seoul, South Korea
   

Favorite articles on the blog

• Liz enjoyed putting together a “Back to School” piece about bootcamps with start dates in the Fall! She chose about 14 schools that are starting soon – a great place to begin your research.
• Lauren had fun speaking with Chance Payne, a computer science grad and a self-taught mobile developer, who now teaches the new Lambda School Android course. He shared the history and nuances of Android development – this guide is a great place to find out how to get started in Android.
• Imogen enjoyed shooting and editing a video interview with a coding bootcamp grad who decided to stay on at his bootcamp and teach new students for three months before starting his official job search. We spoke to Marshall who became a Fullstack Academy teaching fellow about the new skills he learned while teaching, and how those will be applicable to his future career as a software developer. This is a great watch for anyone considering their next moves as they graduate from coding bootcamp!
   

FURTHER READING/LISTENING

• July 2018 Coding Bootcamp News Roundup + Podcast
• June 2018 Coding Bootcamp News Roundup + Podcast
• May 2018 Coding Bootcamp News Roundup + Podcast

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About The Author

Imogen is a writer and content producer who loves writing about technology and education. Her background is in journalism, writing for newspapers and news websites. She grew up in England, Dubai and New Zealand, and now lives in Brooklyn, NY.