The Tech Academy
The Tech Academy is a trade school headquartered in Portland, Oregon that offers full-time and part-time bootcamps online and in-person at their Portland campus.The Tech Academy offers bootcamps in computer programming, website development, cybersecurity, game development, mobile development, data science, and front-end development. The immersive experience aims to create well-rounded technology professionals, and also gives students the option to take the course a...
The Tech Academy is a trade school headquartered in Portland, Oregon that offers full-time and part-time bootcamps online and in-person at their Portland campus.The Tech Academy offers bootcamps in computer programming, website development, cybersecurity, game development, mobile development, data science, and front-end development. The immersive experience aims to create well-rounded technology professionals, and also gives students the option to take the course at their own pace. There are also no set starts dates or rigid scheduling. Students can enroll at any time, study from home, and choose whatever study schedule they would like.
The Tech Academy’s bootcamps cover topics including computer science fundamentals, programming basics, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SQL, C#, Python, Bootstrap, jQuery, React.js, project management, Agile, Scrum, MVC, version control, Java, and more. Each bootcamp also includes a Live Project, where students gain real-life experience to add to their resume as well as job placement assistance.
None of The Tech Academy's bootcamps require any tech background or experience. To apply, applicants need to take an IQ test with logic-based questions (to ensure applicants can read, write and perform basic math), followed by an admissions interview.
The final part of every The Tech Academy bootcamp is the Job Placement Course which covers interviewing skills, resume writing, where to find tech jobs, and gives students access to job placement staff who assist students in landing technical positions.
392 The Tech Academy Reviews
AndrewC#/SQL Programmer • Student • In-Person C# and .NET Boot Camp (full-time) • DenverVerified by LinkedInJul 29, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob AssistanceC# Bootcamp
I had a good experience at The Tech Academy. The coursework is challenging but doable with the assistance of the TA's and pushes you to learn. I personally liked the self paced layout with instructors available to answer questions. The live project at the end gives you "work experience" you can talk about in interviews. The Job assistance was very helpful for helping me actually get a job afterwards.
- Chad ClementGraduate • In-Person Software Developer Boot Camp (full-time) • PortlandVerified by LinkedInJul 19, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
The Tech Academy
I attended The Tech Academy and completed the full-stack software developer course. I would highly recommend this code school. You will get loads of hands-on experience in their courses and live projects. I had some experience with coding before I signed up, though I didn't know much. The Tech Academy is a great choice for those with no coding or little coding experience. The curriculum works you up from the ground up with a lot of definitions of terms used in the tech industry. If you do ...
I attended The Tech Academy and completed the full-stack software developer course. I would highly recommend this code school. You will get loads of hands-on experience in their courses and live projects. I had some experience with coding before I signed up, though I didn't know much. The Tech Academy is a great choice for those with no coding or little coding experience. The curriculum works you up from the ground up with a lot of definitions of terms used in the tech industry. If you do know some code, the live projects are a great transition from making small solo projects to working on a team in a professional environment. The website is minimalist and easy to use. Everything can be done remotely (that is how I studied). The school also seems to be flexible with the hours you can commit and they worked around my busy schedule.
- Abbey ClemanGraduate • In-Person Software Developer Boot Camp (full-time) • PortlandVerified by LinkedInMar 28, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Worth It
I do not typically write reviews on anything. However, I do believe that The Tech Academy deserves one. This may be long.
I started at The Tech Academy a long time (more than 4 years) ago. I signed up before it was a requirement to get it done in a certain amount of time. During this time I had a lot of personal issues happen as well as raising a son and finishing my college degree as well. I have to say that the staff at The Tech Academy is AMAZING!!! They are some of the nicest...
I do not typically write reviews on anything. However, I do believe that The Tech Academy deserves one. This may be long.
I started at The Tech Academy a long time (more than 4 years) ago. I signed up before it was a requirement to get it done in a certain amount of time. During this time I had a lot of personal issues happen as well as raising a son and finishing my college degree as well. I have to say that the staff at The Tech Academy is AMAZING!!! They are some of the nicest people I’ve worked with and are super understanding with what I was going through. With that being said I do have some pros and cons and I’m sure some of it is due to the amount of time that I took to complete. I am not blaming The Tech Academy in any way. This is just what I experienced.
I will start with the cons because everyone wants to know those first anyways.
After I started the curriculum changed and I didn’t get to do some of the courses that were offered when I started. Which I think they shouldn’t have been taken away since it is what I paid for. But once again I won’t blame that all on them. If I had gotten done on time I probably would have had access to them.
The courses. C# is an amazing language but I have found that there are more job offerings for Java and other languages than C# and .NET available. But C# is an object oriented language that makes learning other languages not too hard.
The program and the Live Project isn’t as user friendly for the people who work full time jobs and have a family as well. I wasn’t able to participate as much as I wanted as I was at work when the tasks were put up and they were taken by people who don’t work. Also, waiting for responses from the instructors is a pain because you only get to submit it when you have a chance and sometimes it takes 24-48 hours to get a reply back because you’re not in person and can’t always make the phone call because of work hours and so on.
I also wish that they showed us more on the user interface portion of designing and had us create apps as well.
The pros are as follows.
The staff is FABULOUS!! There was a couple times where I needed some serious help. I ended up calling the instructors and they were willing to walk me through some stuff. Sometimes they weren’t able to help me fix it and had to get back to me. Which is amazing that they didn’t make me sit on the phone with them while they were figuring it out as well.
The courses are easy to follow. I do wish that there were transcripts to read instead of videos just in case someone isn’t available to watch the videos (I did a lot of it at work).
Live project allows you to work with other people and teaches you that sometimes it’s frustrating working with other people and teaches you how to handle it.
Overall:
It was worth it and I think it gave me a lot of information that I will be using. I just wish that I felt more confident in my abilities and knew more languages. But I’m sure that comes with time and experience. I don’t think that if you have the right attitude, drive and desire that you would ever regret going to The Tech Academy.
- EricGraduate • In-Person Software Developer Boot Camp (full-time) • PortlandVerified by LinkedInMar 25, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Software Developer
The Tech Academy is a great fast-paced software developer bootcamp for those who are interested in learning many in demand programming languages. They have a flexible full-time schedule that can be completed in 15-weeks or longer. I had job while I attended so I chose the 20-week program. I did most of it online, but when I needed help I could go over to the campus site or call/email an Instructor who is always available to help.
Following and completing each exercise really help...
The Tech Academy is a great fast-paced software developer bootcamp for those who are interested in learning many in demand programming languages. They have a flexible full-time schedule that can be completed in 15-weeks or longer. I had job while I attended so I chose the 20-week program. I did most of it online, but when I needed help I could go over to the campus site or call/email an Instructor who is always available to help.
Following and completing each exercise really helps anyone who knows nothing to learning all the fundametals of programming. During my time at The Tech Academy I learned HTML, CSS, JavaScript, C#, Git/GitHub, Frameworks, MVC, API, Databases, and much more.
The Instructors are really helpful when you need help with anything. They are always there and stay in contact at all times. When you reach the Job Placement Course the Director will send you weekly job offers that are available to apply for and keeps in touch with you to be updated on how your job search is going until you get your first job. They give you all the tools you need for everything and keep contacting you to help and make sure you graduate. I enjoyed taking the courses and recommend it to anyone who can be comitted and finds a passion in programming.
- Ryan ClementsGraduate • In-Person C# and .NET Boot Camp (full-time) • PortlandVerified by LinkedInMar 23, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Software Developer
The Tech Academy’s boot camps include fast-paced, intensive, portfolio-focused courses. Over the three month C# / .NET program I completed, I learned all of the essential tools to land myself a job in the tech industry as a software developer.
One of the primary reasons I chose to educate myself at The Tech Academy was the flexible schedule. In order to complete the program, you should expect to be putting in around 40 hours of study a week, but the Portland campus is open from e...
The Tech Academy’s boot camps include fast-paced, intensive, portfolio-focused courses. Over the three month C# / .NET program I completed, I learned all of the essential tools to land myself a job in the tech industry as a software developer.
One of the primary reasons I chose to educate myself at The Tech Academy was the flexible schedule. In order to complete the program, you should expect to be putting in around 40 hours of study a week, but the Portland campus is open from early in the morning to late in the evening, meaning assistance is constantly available for those who need it.
Another reason to choose The Tech Academy was affordability. Compared to the other programs I looked at, The Tech Academy was certainly the cheapest but I feel that this in no way reflected poorly on the value of the education that I received.
These programs are certainly challenging, but are good at pushing you to develop the skills and traits needed to succeed in the tech industry, and I’d highly recommend the programs to those who are interested in becoming a programmer.
- AndySoftware Developer in Test • Graduate • In-Person C# and .NET Boot Camp (full-time) • DenverVerified by LinkedInMar 07, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Worth it
I joined the Tech Academy after having worked on an indie game project by myself for 2.5 years. The game alone was not enough to get me a job in software; I didn't get a single interview despite applying all around.
After a couple months of intensive online coursework I understood how computers work a lot better, plus added a lot more programming languages and frameworks to my resume. This allowed me to finally start getting interviews from software companies in Denver and guess ...
I joined the Tech Academy after having worked on an indie game project by myself for 2.5 years. The game alone was not enough to get me a job in software; I didn't get a single interview despite applying all around.
After a couple months of intensive online coursework I understood how computers work a lot better, plus added a lot more programming languages and frameworks to my resume. This allowed me to finally start getting interviews from software companies in Denver and guess what? I nailed my very first one and received a job offer with an excellent salary for an entry level position before I even finished the live project exercise.
Tech Academy was absolutely worth it for me. Does that guarantee it will be worth it for you too? If you only do the minimum amount of coursework and have no background in software to begin with then maybe not, but if you're motivated enough to go the extra mile and put the skills they teach you to use then it will serve you well. They teach everything you need to know to get started in IT.
- JustinJunior Developer/Support Engineer • Graduate • In-Person C# and .NET Boot Camp (full-time) • SeattleVerified by LinkedInMar 06, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Successful career shift thanks to the Tech Academy
The Tech Academy brought me from knowing essentially nothing about programming to landing a junior developer job in NYC in a matter of months.
One of the best parts about the academy is lifetime access to the learning modules. To prepare for recent interviews I revisited the SQL course, did some JavaScript review and went over a large portion of the C# course long after I completed them. This helped tremendously to keep my knowledge fresh so I could perform strongly during interv...
The Tech Academy brought me from knowing essentially nothing about programming to landing a junior developer job in NYC in a matter of months.
One of the best parts about the academy is lifetime access to the learning modules. To prepare for recent interviews I revisited the SQL course, did some JavaScript review and went over a large portion of the C# course long after I completed them. This helped tremendously to keep my knowledge fresh so I could perform strongly during interviews.
The most valuable thing I learned is the ability to find the answer to pretty much anything. I have a totally different mindset when presented with a problem, both inside and outside of technology. Due to the way the course is set up in preparing us to "think like programmers," I am much more adept at solving issues than previously.
It took longer to land a job than I anticipated. I guess I was one of the late bloomers, having graduated just over 6 months ago. Nevertheless, I didn't despair but kept moving forward, continuing to gain knowledge and experience. It has sure paid off!
If I had the chance to do it again and the full Software Developer Bootcamp (with 4 live projects) was available, I would definitely choose that one. There is absolutely no substitute for producing your own code and contributing in a team environment.
- Dani AmsalemWeb Developer • Graduate • In-Person C# and .NET Boot Camp (full-time) • PortlandVerified by LinkedInFeb 21, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Time to Boot Up
I recently graduated from The Tech Academy's C# Bootcamp and today I received my first job offer in NYC!
Like you, I read a ton of reviews before deciding to go with Tech Academy. But I was fortunate to also have friends who had attended and gotten jobs. In other words, I had a handful of personal referrals.
Sure, The Tech Academy is typically more affordable than other bootcamps, but don't make that your reason to attend.
I chose The Tech Ac...
I recently graduated from The Tech Academy's C# Bootcamp and today I received my first job offer in NYC!
Like you, I read a ton of reviews before deciding to go with Tech Academy. But I was fortunate to also have friends who had attended and gotten jobs. In other words, I had a handful of personal referrals.
Sure, The Tech Academy is typically more affordable than other bootcamps, but don't make that your reason to attend.
I chose The Tech Academy because:
- The staff are friendly, supportive, and typically, very knowledgeable.
- The program is broad and provides a lot of valuable information giving you a solid foundation to learn more as a developer.
- You can attend on a hybrid basis (study in one of their many campuses AND online).
Sure, it was still a risk. I didn't know if results were typical. I read one review stating that the bootcamp was pretty darn tough. So I went in expecting complexity, grueling work, and little social interaction.
I was fortunate to have a mother-in-law who lives right by the HQ in Portland who offered to let me stay at her place. She showed me how to get around and so I was able to take advantage of all the HQ has to offer (highly recommended).
Getting started felt slow. In fact, I felt like I was dragging my behind. Chatting and connecting with other students who were ahead of me incentivized me to push on and get through. You actually start programming on the second course, and doing that felt incredible.
I have experience in HTML and CSS, so that course was relatively easy for me. But JavaScript was a bit tough for me. The course was easy. But retaining the concepts was tough.
The final course was C#. I got halfway through the course before I finally understood what object-oriented-programming was. Let me give this advice now, comprehend that concept before and during the course. If you can get the relationship between objects and classes, you'll have a much better time on it.
I actually saw one student leave while at the very end of C#, her final course. Wow! What a waste of time and effort. She was so close to completing and getting to job placement. I'm willing to bet she didn't understand the concept, "object-oriented-programming".
The funny thing is, the bootcamp was the easiest part for me. Finding a job took massive amounts of persistence. Here are some statistics:
- I used 6-7 of the top job search websites
- I sent out at least 495 resumes (those were the ones I kept track of)
- I got my job from on the 415th resume I sent out. But, it wasn't the resume that did the trick, I followed up and that got the Tech Lead's attention.
Once I got the Tech Lead's attention, I was immediately given a coding challenge: Convert a PSD into a WordPress Theme. Wuuuuuut...
I spent the next 3 days researching and trying it out. I watched loads of YouTube videos and read a ton of instructional articles.
That's what The Tech Academy does, it sets you up so you can do the research and coding by yourself. It sets you up so you can learn.
That weekend I completed the coding challenge.
A few days later I had a face-to-face interview. My new boss said I passed the challenge with flying colors!
I followed up a few days later with some references (as instructed by the Job Placement course). I had recently completed an additional coding project and added that to my resume giving him a link.
And here I am today. I can confidently say, I would not have gotten this job or even known how to find this opportunity without The Tech Academy.
They will help you put on your developer boots. But you have to be a big boy (or girl) and take your own steps as a developer.
You'll be scared while sending out resumes. You'll get turned down. I've had at least 15 interviews, and I failed 14 out of them!
But I learned from each and got better. I was constantly testing and improving. I'm not the smartest guy. I don't have a ton of experience.
But if I can do it, you can too.
- Jeffrey PadgettJunior .NET developer • Graduate • In-Person C# and .NET Boot Camp (full-time) • PortlandVerified by GitHubFeb 16, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Amazing bootcamp.
I am 32 years old. Within 6 months, I went from not knowing much to landing a job on my 2nd job interview with a starting salary of 50k a year as a junior .NET developer. They are great and will do whatever it takes to help you accomplish what you need. Listen to their advice, and apply it. The boot camp really is what you make of it, and you get what you put into it. I highly recommend this Bootcamp for its support and interview assistance. I literally emailed Tyler the day before my inte...
I am 32 years old. Within 6 months, I went from not knowing much to landing a job on my 2nd job interview with a starting salary of 50k a year as a junior .NET developer. They are great and will do whatever it takes to help you accomplish what you need. Listen to their advice, and apply it. The boot camp really is what you make of it, and you get what you put into it. I highly recommend this Bootcamp for its support and interview assistance. I literally emailed Tyler the day before my interview and he followed up with me THAT day and we practiced a mock interview, anytime I would need it. I literally had ON CALL interview practice when I needed it most. I would highly recommend doing exactly what they tell you, and also working on personal projects as much as you can to apply what they are teaching you. Don't be scared of the time limit. Just go for it and learn as hard as you can. They are there for you, they are not going to let you fail as long as you are trying your best!
- Tyler McIntyreSoftware Developer • Graduate • In-Person C# and .NET Boot Camp (full-time) • DenverVerified by LinkedInFeb 15, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Full Stack Developer Program
I graduated from the Tech Academy as of January 1st. I attended the Tech Academy for 3.5 months, I was in the Full Stack program which I believe is now called C# and .NET course. In that time a learned everything I needed to know to land myself a job in the tech industry. I attended the Tech Academy completely online. I think I only made it into the campus in Denver twice. I was working while I was attending the academy so it was difficult for me to make it to the campus since it wasn't cl...
I graduated from the Tech Academy as of January 1st. I attended the Tech Academy for 3.5 months, I was in the Full Stack program which I believe is now called C# and .NET course. In that time a learned everything I needed to know to land myself a job in the tech industry. I attended the Tech Academy completely online. I think I only made it into the campus in Denver twice. I was working while I was attending the academy so it was difficult for me to make it to the campus since it wasn't close by for me. However, this didn't matter. The Tech Academy made it very easy to get ahold of instructors when I needed them to help me through a difficult problem.
One reason I chose the Tech Academy out of the many boot camps available to me in the Denver area was first the cost. The Tech Academy was by far the cheapest coding boot camp but that does not reflect the worth of the education they've given me. The education was far more valuable than the price tag. This education was by FAR the cheapest I've ever paid for but is only education that actually paid off as well.
The second reason and most important was the flexibility. I was not in a position where I could completely stop working. While I was attending I was still working. The course I took was completely self-paced which allowed me to finish my education while still working. I also did not have to be at a campus every day which also would have been impossible with my work schedule so I completed it entirely remotely.
The third reason was the importance of building a good portfolio. I had no prior experience in the tech industry. My knowledge of coding was very limited and I do not have a degree which made having a great portfolio to show potential employers extremely important to me. I met with Denver's campus dean and we talked about what the Tech Academy does to help build a great portfolio. After attending the course I can assure you they will put building a great portfolio as one of their top priorities.
After graduating from the Tech Academy I spent about a month on the job hunt before landing my first job as a software developer.
Before you get too excited just a warning. This was NOT easy. I received a lot of rejections before getting my first offer. This was an absolute grind trying to learn all of the skills needed to be a software developer but the Tech Academy will help get you there.
- Jomar RumbawaGraduate • In-Person C# and .NET Boot Camp (full-time) • SeattleVerified by LinkedInFeb 15, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Great Overall Experience
From the beginnining to the end of the curriculum, there wasn't a moment I wasn't learning. Even though I already have a background in technology and have taken classes in programming I learned a whole lot within my 20 weeks.
I was enrolled into the Seattle campus but I did all of my studying remotely at my home or at a nearby coffee shop. When I had any questions I was able to get ahold of an instructor quickly. Mike S, Lindsay and Zach were my instructors at the time and playe...
From the beginnining to the end of the curriculum, there wasn't a moment I wasn't learning. Even though I already have a background in technology and have taken classes in programming I learned a whole lot within my 20 weeks.
I was enrolled into the Seattle campus but I did all of my studying remotely at my home or at a nearby coffee shop. When I had any questions I was able to get ahold of an instructor quickly. Mike S, Lindsay and Zach were my instructors at the time and played in a big role for me finishing out strong.
At the time I enrolled there weren't any other courses except for the C# and .NET Framework course. I'm glad to see that they released three new ones and that Web Development is one of those.
My favorite part of the whole course that differs from other bootcamps is the Live Project. You work in a small team on a project that others have previously worked on. You use the SCRUM methodology which is widely used. Mike Strunk was my lead on that project and I couldn't thank him enough. He made the whole experience wonderful and got to know how it would be to work in the industry.
I would reccomend this to anyone who is looking to break into the tech industry.
Also they do a good job of keeping in touch with you after finishing to make sure you find a job. Tyler Helm was done a wonderful job on making sure that I finished out and graduated!
- Krisztian TothWebmaster • Student • In-Person Software Developer Boot Camp (full-time) • OnlineVerified by LinkedInFeb 06, 2019Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
A necessary first step
I'll be honest. In hindsight I could have tried cheaper ways to become a programmer/software developer, but I don't think it would have made me dedicated enough to make it. So there is something to be said about investment of money and time correlating with dedication which is also stressed in the bootcamp.
The staff are very helpful and nice although doing the course online made me look things up more by myself, which is just as well, because that's what one will do anyway on th...
I'll be honest. In hindsight I could have tried cheaper ways to become a programmer/software developer, but I don't think it would have made me dedicated enough to make it. So there is something to be said about investment of money and time correlating with dedication which is also stressed in the bootcamp.
The staff are very helpful and nice although doing the course online made me look things up more by myself, which is just as well, because that's what one will do anyway on the job.
The live project was the best part for me of the experience because I actually had to make my hands dirty and prove myself that I can do it and I was working in a team.
The C# and .Net Framework course helped me also to get into PHP (being somewhat similar to C# in syntax), which is what is required of me right now on the job.
Overall it is a good bootcamp which gives you an initial push towards the world of software development. If you don't like this course because it is too hard and give up, you also won't like programming, where you might feel like giving up every day. But there is plenty of encouragement and practice interviews for newbies like me and it can be done and you too can find a job.
The Tech Academy Alumni Outcomes
| Employed in-field | 70.1% |
| Full-time employee | 70.1% |
| Full-time apprenticeship, internship or contract position | 0.0% |
| Short-term contract, part-time, or freelance | 0.0% |
| Started a new company or venture after graduation | 0.0% |
| Not seeking in-field employment | 11.2% |
| Employed out-of-field | 2.8% |
| Continuing to higher education | 4.7% |
| Not seeking a job for health, family, or personal reasons | 3.8% |
| Still seeking job in-field | 8.5% |
| Could not contact | 10.2% |
Recent The Tech Academy News
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does The Tech Academy cost?
The Tech Academy costs around $14,000. On the lower end, some The Tech Academy courses like Self-Paced Front-End Web Developer Boot Camp cost $1,800.
What courses does The Tech Academy teach?
The Tech Academy offers courses like Online C# and .NET Framework Boot Camp (full-time), Online C# and .NET Framework Boot Camp (part-time), Online Cyber Security Boot Camp (full-time), Online Cyber Security Boot Camp (part-time) and 29 more.
Where does The Tech Academy have campuses?
The Tech Academy has in-person campuses in Portland. The Tech Academy also has a remote classroom so students can learn online.