2019 Coding Bootcamp Alumni Outcomes & Demographics Report

Overview

Course Report is excited to present the results of our latest and most comprehensive survey of graduates in the coding bootcamp space. We surveyed graduates from 79 qualifying coding schools and received 1862 qualified graduate responses.

The majority of graduates of coding bootcamps are finding full-time employment, and 83% of graduates surveyed say they've been employed in a job requiring the technical skills learned at bootcamp, with a median salary increase of 51% or $22,000. The average starting salary of a bootcamp grad is $66,964. This year's Outcomes & Demographics Study dives into graduates' success, analyzing not only demographics and outcomes, but also how previous experience, income, location, and other factors impact a student's average salary and ability to get a job. In 2019, we also found interesting insights into funding types, income sharing agreements, and bootcamp length. 

Thanks so much to the schools who participated in this study and helped distribute it to their alumni networks!

 

Key Findings

In our fifth annual graduate survey, and the most complete cross-school study of its kind in the coding bootcamp industry, we find strong evidence of salary growth, with respondents reporting a $22,000 increase in median salary in their first job after attending a coding bootcamp.

*Figures concentrate on full-time positions only (i.e. including Freelance, Employed, and Self-employed Entrepreneur.)

 

In addition, bootcamp attendees are more likely to be working full-time after graduation.

 

Most graduates take 1-6 months to find their first job. As students continue their job search after graduation, job placement trends upwards.

This outcomes report also finds:

• The average student paid $13,728 in tuition.
• The typical attendee has 6 years of work experience, has at least a Bachelor's degree, and has never worked as a programmer. However, the number of students with degrees appears to be declining slightly over time.
• Graduates report an average satisfaction rating of 8.76/10.
• Use of external lending partners has increased drastically over time (from 15% before 2016 to 23% in 2018). For 2019 bootcamp graduates, SkillsFund is the most popular lending partner.
• In addition to loans, Income Sharing Agreements (ISAs) continue to be a trend in the bootcamp industry: 21% of graduates used either an ISA or Deferred Tuition (while 43% of bootcampers were offered one of these options).
• 5% of bootcamp graduates are veterans and 2% use the GI Bill to cover tuition, though this number is on the rise.

The "Survey Results" tab shows interesting Insights like:

• Graduates working in San Francisco earn the highest average salaries ($98,412) followed by Seattle graduates who earn an average of $94,283.
• 83% of respondents report that they've worked in a job requiring the technical skills they learned in the bootcamp. Graduates who learned Ruby on Rails report the highest salaries ($82,260).
• Women continue to gain ground amongst bootcamp graduates – in 2019, 35% of graduates are women. Women and men report similar salaries after graduation. 
• The average bootcamper reported a $22,000 lift in median salary after graduating from a bootcamp – while low-income students see a lower average post-bootcamp salary than middle and high-income students, they see a high lift in salary after graduation (180% growth). 
• And interestingly, we find that the length of the bootcamp actually does have an impact on post-graduation average salary: the average salary after an 8-week bootcamp is $58,248 versus the average salary after a bootcamp that’s longer than 16 weeks, which is $71,103. 

 

 

Results

Success Insights

We've analyzed post-bootcamp success by a number of factors, including location, race, gender, educational attainment, and more. The following tables dig deeper into analyzing the types of students who see the most success after graduating from a coding bootcamp.

 

How does Socioeconomic Status Impact Success?

The average bootcamper reported a $22,000 lift in salary after graduating from a bootcamp. Do low-income students experience the same increase in salary as middle and high-income students? We find that low-income students see a lower average post-bootcamp salary than middle and high-income students, but a high lift in salary after graduation (180% growth). Students with previously high salaries may even take a pay cut to change careers!

How does Past Education Impact Success?

There is a strong relationship between pre-bootcamp educational attainment and post-bootcamp salary. Students with a Doctorate degree reported the highest average salary of $78,778. However, Table 16 reveals that bootcamp graduates with no college degree also have very positive outcomes (77% salary growth). 

How does Race/Ethnicity Impact Success?

While respondents have the highest average post-bootcamp salary; they are also the most likely to be employed after graduation. Asian bootcampers reported the highest salary lift post-bootcamp. White/Caucasian & Black/African American bootcampers reported similar pay increases of around 50% on average.

How does Gender Impact Success?

Women make up 35% of the coding bootcamp industry. Average salaries between the genders post-bootcamp were nearly identical, although females experienced a slightly larger pay increase. Note: "Non-binary" was not included in Table 19 as there were not a significant number of cases.

How does Programming Language Learned Impact Success?

While JavaScript has been gaining popularity in coding bootcamps since 2014, graduates who learned Ruby on Rails report the highest salary after graduation and are most likely to be employed (Table 20). Note: Only languages with a significant sample size were included in Table 20.

How does Location Impact Success?

Cities with the highest average salaries remain the largest tech hubs with plenty of developer jobs: San Francisco, Seattle, and New York City were among the states with highest average salaries (Table 21). However, we also notice strong salaries in "secondary markets" like Denver, Atlanta, Columbus, and Wilmington. Note: Only cities with a significant sample size were included in Table 21.

How does Military Status Impact Success?

Respondents who served in the military report earning higher salaries than those who did not – $70,042 vs $66,594.

 

 

How does Bootcamp Length/Duration Impact Success?

Length of bootcamp does have an impact on post-graduation average salary, with graduates from longer bootcamps making higher average salaries than individuals graduating from shorter-term bootcamps.

 

How does Preparation Impact Success?

Most respondents (59%) did some self-teaching prior to attending bootcamp, and 35% were complete beginners prior to enrolling. 

 

 

 

 

 

Demographics

Student Demographic Profile

Respondents self-reported demographic information such as age, gender, race, and veteran status. The student profile is summarized below in Tables 1a-1e.

The average age of respondents across all graduation years was 31 years old.  The median age was 30 years old.

 

In online bootcamps, women and men are almost equally represented. While women are slightly underrepresented in in-person bootcamps, the percentage of women improves year over year. We compare our findings on gender enrollment to the 2017 Taulbee Survey, an annual survey of computer science programs at accredited universities. The Taulbee study estimated that 19% of 2016 Bachelor's degrees in Computer Science were awarded to females. Our study suggests that bootcamps (34% female) compare favorably to traditional computer science departments (as well as masters programs) on gender diversity. 

 

Bootcamp graduates have a very strong over-representation of Asian graduates (12% of 2019 graduates vs. 5% of US population) and an underrepresentation of Black/African American bootcampers (9% of graduates in 2019 vs. 13% of the US population). We compare ethnicity in respondents to the 2010 US Census.

Overall, White/Caucasian individuals made up the majority of bootcamp attendees (~71%) – so the majority of bootcampers are still white but the racial makeup of bootcamps is shifting closer to US census data.

 

About 75% of bootcamp attendees were US Citizens having been born in the US. About ~18% of bootcamp attendees were not US Citizens, and about ~7% of bootcamp attendees were naturalized US Citizens.

 

In 2018, we began asking respondents about military service. Just over 5% of bootcamp attendees had a military service background. This proportion has remained consistent over time.

 

Education

Most individuals (~59%) attending coding bootcamps held a bachelor’s degree. This level appears to be declining slightly over time and the group of bootcamp attendees with "Some College" is increasing over time. This could say something about the market share that bootcamps are taking from universities; it's also likely due to the popularity and ubiquity of bootcamps in recent years (bootcamps are an option for a wider group of people). Master’s Degree holders accounted for about ~14% of all bootcamp attendees. Interestingly, Foreign Language majors had the highest salaries of all bachelors degrees

Fields of study are widespread. The most frequent pre-bootcamp education fields are Business & Public Administration, Psychology/Philosophy/Sociology, Engineering, Computer Science and Art/Art History. These fields accounted for ~37% of all bootcampers in 2019.

Location of Bootcamp Attendance

86% of graduates attended bootcamp in the United States. Of the respondents who attended bootcamp abroad (14%), more than half live in Canada (73%), 15% live in Europe, and 6% live in Australia. The full split for all graduates follows:

 

 

12% of bootcamp graduates attended their full-time bootcamp online – as shown in Table 3b: 

Pre-Bootcamp Programming Experience

Most respondents (59%) did some self-teaching prior to attending bootcamp, and 35% were complete beginners prior to enrolling.

 

Pre-Bootcamp Work Experience

The average previous work experience among students is ~6 years, although slightly higher for 2019 graduates (~7 years). 14% report being unemployed prior to bootcamp enrollment, as shown in Table 5a. 80% of graduates were employed in some capacity before they started bootcamp.

*Figure concentrates on full-time positions only (i.e. including "Employed – freelance or independent contractor", "Employed full-time", "Self-employed Entrepreneur").

Applications & Student Motivations

By far, most graduates report applying to a coding bootcamp in order to get a job as a programmer (91%). Most bootcampers applied to only one school and were accepted to the bootcamp on the first attempt.

 

Finally, the most important factor to a future bootcamper when deciding between bootcamps are Alumni Outcomes, and Alumni Outcomes are becoming more important over time (perhaps in light of newer initiatives like CIRR). Average ratings (Table 6b) give some idea about the importance of factors. Curriculum and Instructors are the next most important factors. Tuition and Location have about the same importance, followed by Scholarships and Quality of Facilities being the least important factors. 

 

 

Tuition

Average tuition for a coding bootcamp is $13,728, with most students paying for school themselves or with the help of external loans (Table 7a). The extent to which individuals are “Self” funding their bootcamp experiences appears to be decreasing over time. This is compensated by the rise of External Loans through lending partners like SkillsFund. Additionally, 2% of bootcamp graduates used the GI Bill in 2019. This year over year comparison is shown in Table 8a. 

Income Sharing Agreements (ISAs) and Deferred Tuition are two trends on the rise in the bootcamp industry. Table 8b shows graduates' use of these options. 

 

 

Trends in Bootcamp Lending Partners

The most popular lending partners used are SkillsFund and Climb Credit (Table 8). The distribution of lending partners is shown below for those graduates who used External Loans. 

"Other" answers mention repeatedly using banks and school funding.

 

 

 

Student Outcomes

Post-Bootcamp Employment

Most alumni (82%) are in salaried, full-time positions, with others reporting working part-time, independent contractors, or running their own businesses. Note: In Table 9a, employment status is shown for all graduates. In Table 9b, you can see how Employment Status for 2019 graduates changes based on time since graduation. Because it takes most alumni 1-6 months to accept a job after graduation, we find that alumni who graduated in January-May are more likely to be employed. 

 

A majority of bootcampers (83%) report that they have had a job leveraging the technical skills acquired in bootcamp in their post-bootcamp employment. 

Post-Bootcamp Salary

Alumni report an average first salary of $66,964 and an average most recent salary of $90,990. Most recent salaries are in line with first salary after bootcamp for 2019 graduates who have not had time to change jobs yet (perhaps the reasons for leaving their first positions so quickly – fit/performance etc. – may explain why they had to ultimately take a pay cut).

*Figures concentrate on full-time positions only (i.e. including Freelance, Employed, and Self-employed Entrepreneur.)

 

The most common job title for bootcampers is Software Engineer.

 

Time to Job Placement

Almost three-quarters of bootcampers found employment within 3 months of graduating. About 20% of bootcampers had a job offer before graduating. Interestingly, this figure has increased to nearly 30% as of 2019, so more bootcampers are finding jobs before graduating than ever before.

 

Salary Change After First Job

Most coding bootcamp graduates (75%) are still working in the first job they landed after graduation (Table 12a). Within the first year of graduating (2019) almost all the respondents (97%) were still on their first job post-bootcamp. One year later (2018) about 12% of graduates were into their second job post-bootcamp. As bootcamp graduates accept second and third jobs, their average salaries also jump – a typical 16-17% salary increase

 

 

When a bootcamp grad moves to their second and third jobs, their salary typically increases by 16-17% for each new job (+19% on the median salary from Job 1 to Job 2, and +17% from Job 2 to Job 3). (Table 12b). 

 

School Services

Many schools offer services to help prepare students for the job market. Almost all students report receiving some form of assistance: career days, resume prep, apprenticeship, on-site interviews, and more. The most popular services offered are resume assistance and networking events (Table 13a). Only about a fifth of bootcamps offered apprenticeships or internships.

 

 

 

 

Graduate Satisfaction

Graduates report an average satisfaction rating of 8.76/10 and would recommend their coding bootcamp to a friend 8.55 times out of 10. 

Satisfaction and recommendation are very strongly correlated. More than 50% of graduates are very satisfied or would strongly recommend their schools (scores 9 and 10).

 

 

 

Participating Schools

Respondents in the 2019 Coding Bootcamp Student Outcomes & Demographics Study graduated from the following 79 bootcamps:

* These bootcamps are no longer operating.
** Formerly C4Q Access Code.
*** Formerly Cincy Code IT.

 

 

Methodology

We received responses from graduates from 79 coding schools, commonly referred to as "bootcamps." We received 936 responses in 2019 and carried over 926 responses from the 2018 survey. The total responses were filtered by the below inclusion criteria, and then cleaned to remove outliers.  The surveys were sent to graduates and all figures are self-reported by the respondents.

INCLUSION CRITERIA

To qualify for inclusion in the survey, a respondent must have attended a school that (a) offers full-time, in-person instruction of 40 or more hours of classroom time per week, (b) is not degree-granting, (c) provides programming-specific curriculum.

GRADUATES

To qualify for inclusion in the survey, individuals must have completed a course offered by a coding bootcamp (as defined above) prior to October 14, 2019.    

INCENTIVES

Participation in the survey was voluntary. An incentive for a $500 Amazon Giftcard was offered for participation.

POST-STRATIFICATION

Because bootcamps likely varied in the extent to which they distributed and advertised the survey to students, it is unlikely that our raw sample is representative of the overall population of students. To adjust for varying sampling probabilities across schools, we post-stratify the sample on school using the known (2018-2019) bootcamp sizes from a recent Course Report survey. Respondents are weighted such that the in-sample distribution of respondents across camps matches as closely as possible the known distribution of bootcamp sizes. Therefore, our estimates rely on a much weaker assumption than random sampling—we only need to assume that respondents are effectively randomly sampled within school strata.

*Post-stratification was only applied to select questions (e.g. geographical location of the bootcamp) where the relationship between bootcamp and response is clearly understood.

ABOUT COURSE REPORT

Course Report, founded in 2013 by Adam Lovallo and Liz Eggleston, operates https://www.coursereport.com/, which helps potential students find, research, and apply to coding bootcamp programs. Course Report offers a directory of schools, webinars, thousands of reviews, and interviews with teachers, founders, students, and alumni.