Episode 13: April 2017 Coding Bootcamp News Roundup + Podcast

Missed out on coding bootcamp news in April? Never fear, Course Report is here! We’ve collected everything in this handy blog post and podcast. This month, we read about why outcomes reporting is useful for students, how a number of schools are working to boost their diversity with scholarships, we heard about student experiences at bootcamp, plus we added a bunch of interesting new schools to the Course Report school directory! Read below or listen to our latest Coding Bootcamp News Roundup Podcast.

General

Listen: 2:18

Steve Lohr of the New York Times wrote about the spectrum of options for someone who wants to learn to code, from free programs like Coursera and Udacity to Bootcamps like Galvanize & General Assembly.
R&B artist and producer Ne-Yo has invested in Holberton School as part of Holberton's $2.3 million fundraising round (via TechCrunch).

Outcomes/CIRR

Listen: 3:39

CBS talks about the benefits of bootcamps releasing outcomes reports, and highlights a Turing student who found outcomes useful when selecting a bootcamp.
EdSurge published an article listing the common pitfalls made by coding bootcamps including getting state licensing, overly aggressive marketing, and promoting student outcomes.
CIRR has released its first set of outcomes for students who attended a partner program. In the first half of 2016, the bootcamps state a 92% graduation rate, an 80% in-field placement rate, and starting salary of $70,412 (via Campus Technology).
Former Dev Bootcamp President Tarlin Ray wrote a guest post for ReCode about how forward-thinking companies are abandoning traditional hiring biases and opening new tech talent pipelines.

Student Experiences

Listen: 8:04

A Deep Dive Coding Bootcamp student discussed her experience transitioning from a career in marketing to a junior software developer role with the Albuquerque Journal.
Technically DC spotlighted an Iron Yard grad who was a teacher, then did Iron Yard, and now teaches coding to teens.

Diversity

Listen: 9:21

Majority leader Kevin McCarthy introduced a bill in April to cover the costs of tech courses like coding bootamps for veterans (via NextGov).
Stack Overflow’s latest survey finds only 7.6% of developers are female, developers consider themselves underpaid, and 30% of developers have less than 3 years coding experience (via Arc).
Austin’s NPR station, KUT, did a comprehensive look at the 18 bootcamps in Austin and how they’re making headway on increasing female and minority representation in tech.
Tech Cocktail spoke with a Galvanize Austin student who was a musician with a baby on the way. When he graduated he was offered a job at Common Edit, which helps musicians collaborate with each other and make music.
An organization called Coding Autism is launching the ASPIRE Web Development Immersive bootcamp to combat unemployment and underemployment rates among people with Autism (via Mashable).

Scholarships

Listen: 14:07

Enspiral Dev Academy in New Zealand is offering $2000 scholarships to Maori and Pasifika applicants (via Waatea News).
Triangle Communications is offering five $7000 scholarships to learn to code at Big Sky Code Academy’s full-time, 12-week bootcamp in Havre, Montana (via Benzinga).
Facebook has donated some of the proceeds from its F8 conference to Hack Reactor’s Telegraph Track for underrepresented engineers.
Grand Circus has launched the "Develop the Mitten" scholarship for Michigan residents which covers the full cost of the 10-week, full-time coding bootcamp for two applicants.

New Schools + Bootcamp Updates

Listen: 17:45

Coding Dojo is adding new coding languages Java and Spring to their curriculum and launching a corporate training program (via Yahoo).
Delaware Online reports that Zip Code Wilmington is moving to a co-working space called The Mill. With more space they can add more cohorts in JavaScript and Python and accommodate their alumni at events.
Ironhack, a web and UX/UI design bootcamp, is launching a new campus in Paris. Registration is now open until June 1 for the 9-week bootcamp and the first class will be June 26- September 1.
Sales Bootcamp acquired Inside Sales Bootcamp last month and united the brands under the Sales Bootcamp name.
An Arizona community radio channel explained how the new University of Arizona Coding Bootcamp will help boost the city’s workforce, which currently has a critical need for tech talent.
The University of Maryland University College just announced that they’re partnering with Revature (via University Herald).
CIO covered the Silicon-Valley-Style bootcamps in Australia including General Assembly and Coder Academy reviews.

New Schools in April

Listen: 20:27

Austin Community College Continuing Education Coding Boot Camp, Austin, TX
Code Chrysalis, Tokyo, Japan
The Coding Forum, Silicon Valley + Los Angeles
Tech901, Memphis, TN
Queens Tech Academy, NYC
UNH Coding Boot Camp, Nashua, NH
UMass Amherst Coding Boot Camp, Boston, MA
Playcrafting, NYC, San Fran, Boston
Green Fox Academy, Budapest, Hungary
Code University, Berlin

A Question From a Reader

Listen: 21:26

“What skills would I be lacking in the long term if I go the boot camp route compared to a CS degree? Because of the limited time I understand the knowledge between the two would be vastly different, but things like how a compiler works etc, may not be very important for getting code out the door 95% of the time, but over the long term will it hamper my growth as a developer? What are other important fundamentals a boot camp wouldn't have time to go over, but every developer should really understand for sound knowledge?"- EJ

Answer:

Many people have this dilemma, since coding bootcamps are far cheaper and take a lot less time than CS degrees, often offer more practical, hands-on skills, and provide personalized career services that can help you land a job sooner.
What we have learned from talking to people in the industry is that CS grads learn a lot more about things like Algorithms, and systems architecture, and there usually isn’t time to cover those things in a 12-week coding bootcamp. These are things you are unlikely to need in a junior developer role, but you are right in that you may need those things as you progress your career.
However, you can actually learn those things by yourself. There are tons of books on algorithms, and you could also take a MOOC on Coursera or Edx. Check out our article on how to keep learning after bootcamp for more ideas on this.
There are also some bootcamps that devote Saturdays to CS fundamentals, like Fullstack Academy.
If you’re worried about whether a coding bootcamp vs a CS degree will get you a job, be reassured that we have talked to a number of employers from companies like Stack Overflow, Progressive, Cisco, Razorfish, who all say that coding bootcamp grads perform really well in technical job interviews, and often have more practical skills than CS grads.
Many colleges are actually partnering with bootcamps to teach intensive coding classes.

Favorite Articles on the Course Report Blog

Listen: 24:30

Lauren Stewart

Remember that the learning doesn’t end once you finish your course – here are our 8 steps to help you keep learning after bootcamp.

Imogen Crispe

I interviewed former math teacher Arlene who was awarded a diversity scholarship to attend DBC. Now she is an apprentice at NBC Universal, and working hard to be a role model for other women and Latinos.

FURTHER READING

Written by

Imogen Crispe, Content Creator and Entrepreneur

Imogen is a writer and content producer who loves exploring technology and education in her work. Her strong background in journalism, writing for newspapers and news websites, makes her a contributor with professionalism and integrity.