September 2021 Coding Bootcamp News

Table of Contents

• $665M IN FUNDRAISES + A NEW CEO
• REGULATING ISAs + UNIVERSITY-BOOTCAMP STUDENT OUTCOMES
• THE LATEST ON WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
• COLLEGE VS BOOTCAMP: THE DEBATE CONTINUES
• BOOTCAMPS DIVERSIFYING DATA SCIENCE + CYBERSECURITY
• 5 NEW BOOTCAMPS ON COURSE REPORT
• JESS & LIZ’S FAVORITE SEPTEMBER BLOG POSTS

Happy Fall! With the kick-off of a new academic year, we saw more buzz about the value of attending college versus a coding bootcamp as major industries drop the college degree requirement. Large online college-bootcamp program management companies like 2U and Wiley released their first transparency reports, and new ideas emerged about how to diversify the tech pipeline. Workforce development continues to be top-of-mind, and we read reports on the tech training employers and employees need to stay relevant. ISA regulation bubbled up again as the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made a move against an ISA provider. Plus, find out which 5 new bootcamps we added to the Course Report directory this month!

Curious about what happened in August 2021? Check out last month’s episode with the biggest bootcamp news from August.

$665M IN FUNDRAISES + A NEW CEO

• TechCrunch reports that Vietnam-based CoderSchool landed $2.6M in pre-series A.
• ​​According to Forbes and TechInAsia, Rocket Academy raised $1.1 million in pre-seed funding from 50 angel investors and venture capitalists.
• Emeritus announced a $650M funding round, which now values the company at $3.2 billion.
• Turing College announced a $1.05 million seed round to continue expansion. Turing College was part of the Y Combinator W21 batch and has now received $2.5 million in funding in total.
• The Miami Times reports that Automation Workz Institute has received a $10 million donation from ISA-provider Blair.
• According to the Birmingham Business Journal, Veroskills raised a $500,000 seed round. 
• Flatiron School has appointed Kate Cassino as its new CEO. 

REGULATING ISAs + UNIVERSITY-BOOTCAMP STUDENT OUTCOMES

• Higher Ed Dive and Business Insider reports that ISA provider, Better Future Forward received a consent order from the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Better Future Forward does not work with any bootcamps, to our knowledge.
• Heather Payne, the CEO of Juno College of Technology, wrote in Betakit about the lessons they’ve learned about offering ISAs to their students.
• Inside Higher Ed highlighted the new impact reports released by online program management companies 2U, Wiley, and Academy Partnerships about their student outcomes.
• NYC Data Science Academy announced that they were accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Continuing Education & Training (ACCET).

THE LATEST ON WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

• FedScoop reports that the White House launched the US Digital Corps, which is a 2-year fellowship aimed at placing early-career software engineers, data scientists and other technologists at federal agencies.
• HR Dive reports that the Department of Labor has committed $90M for employee training to aid workers who were displaced by the pandemic. $90M is double what DOL was originally going to put towards this employee training aid, and the funds will also cover career guidance.
• A Monster poll found that 50% of employees were concerned about the future of their work due to a potential skills gap, specifically technology, computer and occupation-specific training.
• HR Dive points out that 60% of hiring decision-makers are already planning on reskilling their employees by the end of 2021. 
• On CIO Dive, spokespeople from 5 organizations shared how they’ve set up tech training programs at their own companies and how those have helped with employee retention. 
• The Daily Yonder reports on how Utah’s Rural Online Initiative (also known as ROI) is supporting today’s rural Utah residents looking for tech jobs. 

COLLEGE VS BOOTCAMP: THE DEBATE CONTINUES

• CNBC highlighted Kate Lillemoen, a 21-year-old college grad who enrolled at Tech Elevator and then landed her first software engineer role. Reflecting on her education journey, Kate says, “If I knew then what I know now, I probably would have skipped college.” 
• Axios dug in a bit more on this cultural shift we’re seeing right now in education as more employers accept job applicants with alternative credentials instead of just college degrees. 
• AdWeek reported on how ad agencies are following in the steps of big tech companies by ditching the college degree requirement.
• In Geektime, Ingrid Toppelberg, the CPO of Cybint Solutions, shared her perspective on how bootcamp partnerships expand the university’s ability to cater to employment-focused students.
• Forbes contributor Steve Tengler also took on the college vs coding bootcamp question, by focusing on a student’s return-on-investment. Steve points out that it could take a Computer Science grad 26 years to surpass a bootcamp grad’s head start making money in the tech field.

BOOTCAMPS DIVERSIFYING DATA SCIENCE + CYBERSECURITY

• Globe and Mail reports that women make up just 15%-22% of the data science workforce. 
• Correlation One launched a women’s only cohort of its Data Science for All program.
• The Hill covered a recent report about how to diversify the cybersecurity field. 
• Flatiron School became a OneTen tech talent partner.
• Technical.ly Pittsburgh points out that there is racial disparity in who is seeing a salary lift in the new tech community.

5 NEW BOOTCAMPS ON COURSE REPORT

• Holberton School is opening a new campus in Tirana, Albania. 
• Cybint has partnered with Xepto Education to launch a new cybersecurity bootcamp in the Philippines.
• Cybint is partnering with CyberOps Training Academy to offer courses to the Texas business community.

We also added these 5 new schools to our directory:

• Academy Xi
• Cleveland State Tech Bootcamps (powered by Fullstack Academy)
• UT Dallas Tech Bootcamps (powered by Fullstack Academy)
• SVC Seattle
• Zaka

JESS & LIZ’S FAVORITE SEPTEMBER BLOG POSTS

Jess was so excited to speak with Yolanda Natal-Santos about the Microsoft Leap Apprenticeship Program. Microsoft Leap is a paid, full-time apprenticeship aimed at diversifying the tech pipeline. The program is super competitive to get into, but Yolanda shared how bootcamp grads such as the grads from Sabio make a big impression on the admissions team. 

Liz really enjoyed producing a podcast episode with Grand Circus bootcamp grad Liam. Liam graduated from Grand Circus in Detroit in 2017 and 4 years later, he’s working as a software engineer at Quicken in Detroit. To pay for his bootcamp, Liam took out a loan with a Living Stipend from Ascent Funding (previously called Skills Fund). Find out if it was ultimately worth it for Liam to take out a loan for a bootcamp!