Written By Liz Eggleston
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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 73 qualifying coding schools and received 1,450 qualified graduate responses.
The majority of graduates of coding bootcamps are finding full-time employment, and 80% of graduates surveyed say they've been employed in a job requiring the technical skills learned at bootcamp, with an average salary increase of 50.5% or $23,724. The average starting salary of a bootcamp grad is $70,698. 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.
Thanks so much to the schools who participated in this study and helped distribute it to their alumni networks!
Key Findings
In our fourth 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 $23,724 average increase in their first job after attending a coding bootcamp.
| Change in Salary | Before | After | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Salary* | $46,974 | $70,698 | 50.5% |
| Median Salary* | $40,000 | $65,000 | 62.5% |
*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.
| Change in Employment | Pre-bootcamp | Post-bootcamp |
|---|---|---|
| Employed Full-Time | 58% | 75% |
| Employed Part-Time | 8% | 3% |
| Employed Freelance | 5% | 4% |
| Self-Employed | 4% | 3% |
| Homemaker/Stay-at-home parent | 1% | 0% |
| Student | 7% | 1% |
| Unemployed | 17% | 14% |
Most graduates take 1-6 months to find their first job. As students continue their job search after graduation, job placement trends upwards.
| 33% | 66% | 79% | 85% | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| placed | placed | placed | placed | |||
| 30 DAYS | 90 DAYS | 120 DAYS | 120+ DAYS |
| All Respondents | 2017 Graduates | |
|---|---|---|
| Age | Average | Average |
| Years | 30 | 29 |
| Gender | % | % |
| Female | 36% | 40% |
| Male | 61% | 57% |
| Non-Binary | 3% | 3% |
| Race/Ethnicity | % | % |
| White/Caucasian | 69% | 65% |
| Black/African American | 5% | 5% |
| Asian | 18% | 22% |
| Native American/Pacific Islander etc. | 1% | 1% |
| Hispanic | 7% | 9% |
| Other | 1% | 1% |
This outcomes report also finds:
- The average student paid $11,874 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.
- Graduates report an average satisfaction rating of 8.3/10.
- Use of external lending partners has increased drastically over time (from 9% before 2016 to 20% in 2017).
The "Survey Results" tab shows interesting Insights like:
- Graduates working in California earn the highest average salaries ($100,482).
- Preparation pays off! Alumni report an average $70,698 salary after graduation. Graduates with previous programming experience typically see higher salaries ($7,000 higher if they've done some self-teaching).
- 80% of respondents report that they've worked in a job requiring the technical skills they learned in the bootcamp. Graduates who learned Javascript are 38% more likely to be employed and graduates who learned Ruby on Rails are 35% more likely to be employed. Notably, gender has no impact on a graduate's likelihood to be employed.
- The highest salaried students studied Engineering and Mathematics. Anthropology and Physical Science majors saw the most drastic change in salary, and Marketing/Advertising majors were most likely to be employed after graduation in a role requiring technical skills learned at the bootcamp.
Results
Student Outcomes
Post-Bootcamp Employment
Most alumni (75%) are in salaried, full-time position, with others reporting working as an independent contractor or running their own business. Note: In Table 9a, employment status is shown for all graduates. In Table 9b, you can see how Employment Status for 2017 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.
| Employment Status | Pre-Bootcamp | Post-Bootcamp |
|---|---|---|
| Employed full-time (30h+ per week) | 58% | 75% |
| Employed part-time (<30h per week) | 8% | 3% |
| Employed freelance or independent contractor | 5% | 4% |
| Self-Employed Entrepreneur | 4% | 3% |
| Homemaker/"Stay-at-home" parent | 1% | 0% |
| Student | 7% | 1% |
| Unemployed | 17% | 14% |
| Graduation Year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employment Status | All | 2017 (all year) | 2017 (Jan-May) | |
| Employed Full-Time | 75% | 58% | 77% | |
| Employed Part-Time | 3% | 4% | 2.5% | |
| Employed Freelance | 4% | 7% | 6.5% | |
| Entrepreneur | 3% | 3% | 1% | |
| Homemaker | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Student | 1% | 3% | 1% | |
| Unemployed | 14% | 25% | 12% |
Since graduating, 80% of alumni have had a job requiring the technical skills they learned in the bootcamp.
| Graduation Year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 2011-15 | 2016 | 2017 | ||
| Yes | 80% | 94% | 86% | 66% | |
| No | 20% | 6% | 14% | 34% |
Post-Bootcamp Salary
Alumni report an average first salary of $70,698 and an average most recent salary of $76,347. 50% of 2017 bootcamp graduates in full-time employment earn more than $60k in their first job after bootcamp. Most recent salaries are in line with first salary after bootcamp for 2017 graduates who have not had time to change jobs yet.
| First Salary Post-Graduation | All | 2017 Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Average Salary | $70,698 | $61,050 |
| Median Salary | $65,000 | $60,000 |
| Most Recent Salary | All | 2017 Graduates |
| Average Salary | $76,347 | $62,375 |
| Median Salary | $71,000 | $60,000 |
*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 but is trending down for 2017 graduates. 38% of Other job titles contain “developer”.
| Graduation Year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Job Title | All Years | 2011-2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
| Software Engineer | 36% | 36% | 40% | 23% | |
| Front-End Developer | 16% | 18% | 13% | 15% | |
| Junior Web Developer | 15% | 14% | 11% | 19% | |
| Associate/ Junior Software Engineer | 6% | 5% | 5% | 8% | |
| Teaching Assistant | 3% | 1% | 3% | 4% | |
| UX/UI Designer | 1% | 0% | 1% | 2% | |
| QA Engineer | 1% | 1% | 2% | 1% | |
| Mobile Developer | 1% | 0% | 1% | 2% | |
| Senior Web Developer | 1% | 2% | 0% | 1% | |
| Other | 24% | 23% | 23% | 25% |
Time to Job Placement
33% of graduates find a job within less than a month, another third of the population between 1 and 3 months.
| Graduation Year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Job Search Length | All Years | 2011-15 | 2016 | 2017 | |
| < 1 month | 33% | 39% | 30% | 32% | |
| 1-3 months | 33% | 34% | 37% | 29% | |
| 3-6 months | 13% | 17% | 17% | 9% | |
| >6 months | 6% | 8% | 10% | 3% | |
| Still unemployed | 14% | 3% | 7% | 27% |
Salary Change After First Job
Most coding bootcamp graduates (66%) are still working in the first job they landed after graduation (Table 12a). For students who have had more than one job after graduation, they spent an average length of 8 months in their first job. As bootcamp graduates accept second and third jobs, their average salaries also jump (Table 12b).
| Number of Post-Graduation Jobs | All | 2017 Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 66% | 86% |
| 2 | 27% | 13% |
| 3 | 5% | 1% |
| 4 | 1% | 0% |
When a bootcamp grad moves to their second and third jobs, their salary typically increases by 25% for each new job (+27% on the median salary from Job 1 to Job 2, and +25% from Job 2 to Job 3).
| Job | Median | Average |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Job | $60,000 | $65,591 |
| 2nd Job | $76,000 | $79,944 |
| 3rd Job | $95,000 | $90,421 |
| Change in Job | % | % |
| Increase 1st to 2nd Job | 27% | 22% |
| Increase 2nd to 3rd Job | 25% | 13% |
| Increase 1st to 3rd Job | 58% | 38% |
School Services
Many schools offer services to help prepare students for the job market. Almost all students report receiving some form of assistance: resume prep, apprenticeship, on-site interviews, and more. The most popular services offered are resume assistance and networking events (Table 13a). Online bootcamps logically offer less face-to-face events but seem to compensate with stronger job placement services, especially in 2017 (Table 13b).
| Services Offered | All | 2017 Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Resume preparation assistance | 91% | 90% |
| Career day, demo day, networking | 83% | 80% |
| Job placement services | 58% | 57% |
| Apprenticeship or internship | 21% | 21% |
| None of the above | 3% | 3% |
| 2017 Graduates | ||
|---|---|---|
| Services Offered | Online | In-Person |
| Resume preparation assistance | 90% | 95% |
| Career day, demo day, networking | 84% | 40% |
| Job placement services | 56% | 69% |
| Apprenticeship or internship | 22% | 15% |
| None of the above | 3% | 4% |
Graduate Satisfaction
Graduates report an average satisfaction rating of 8.3/10 and would recommend their coding bootcamp to a friend 8 times out of 10.
Satisfaction and recommendation are very strongly correlated (83%). More than 50% of graduates are very satisfied or would strongly recommend their schools (scores 9 and 10).
| Overall Program Satisfaction | Average Score | NPS (Net Promoter Score) |
|---|---|---|
| Satisfaction (1-10) | 8.3 | 39% |
| Recommended (1-10) | 8.0 | 32% |
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 $23,724 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 (166% growth).
| Mean Salary (USD) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Socioeconomic Class | Pre-bootcamp | Post-bootcamp | % Employed |
| Prior income ≤ $30,000 | $21,518 | $57,432 | 76% |
| $30,000 < Prior income ≤ $40,000 | $33,625 | $64,710 | 78% |
| $40,000 < Prior income ≤ $60,000 | $46,653 | $74,528 | 78% |
| Prior income > $60,000 | $80,168 | $83,869 | 83% |
How does Past Education Impact Success?
There is a strong relationship between pre-bootcamp educational attainment and post-bootcamp salary. Students with a Bachelor's degree reported the highest average salary of $75,370. Students with a Bachelor's degree also experienced the highest lift in salary after graduating from a bootcamp- 58% salary growth. However, Table 16 reveals that bootcamp graduates with no college degree also have very positive outcomes (56% salary growth).
| Education | Pre-Bootcamp | Post-bootcamp | % Employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| No college degree | $38,049 | $58,877 | 71% |
| Associate's degree | $42,616 | $62,364 | 71% |
| Bachelor's degree | $47,784 | $75,370 | 80% |
| Master's degree | $60,504 | $73,002 | 79% |
*Doctorate degrees accounted for only ~1% of respondents.
How does Programming Experience Impact Success?
As expected, students who had more experience in programming before attending a coding bootcamp tend to have higher average salaries and are more likely to be employed in a programming job after graduating. Bootcampers who reported that they had done some self-teaching before attending a bootcamp experienced the highest average salary lift of 53% (Table 17). Finally, even respondents who identified themselves as Experienced Programmers prior to a bootcamp saw salary growth after graduating from a bootcamp.
| Programming Experience | Pre-bootcamp | Post-bootcamp | % Employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complete Beginner | $43,963 | $60,466 | 75% |
| Some self-teaching | $48,459 | $74,542 | 80% |
| Experienced Programmer | $57,353 | $84,560 | 72% |
How does Race/Ethnicity Impact Success?
While respondents who identify as Hispanic have the highest average post-bootcamp salary, they are also the least likely to be employed after graduation. White graduates are the most likely to be employed after graduation. Black graduates have the lowest average salary.
| Ethnicity | Pre-bootcamp | Post-bootcamp | % Employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | $47,224 | $70,889 | 82% |
| Hispanic | $44,744 | $78,069 | 63% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | $50,960 | $76,811 | 74% |
| Black | $49,577 | $53,201 | 71% |
| Other | $45,006 | $58,999 | 67% |
How does Gender Impact Success?
Women make up 36% of the coding bootcamp industry; while women saw more drastic salary growth after graduating from a bootcamp, men still report a higher average salary. Note: "Non-binary" was not included in Table 19 as there were not a significant number of cases.
| Gender | Pre-bootcamp | Post-bootcamp | % Employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Male | $49,250 | $73,228 | 78% |
| Female | $45,012 | $68,578 | 78% |
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.
| Language | Pre-bootcamp | Post-bootcamp | % Employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruby on Rails | $50,905 | $80,760 | 82% |
| Full Stack JavaScript | $46,970 | $68,578 | 78% |
| C# | $38,530 | $61,468 | 73% |
| Other | $48,497 | $67,216 | 72% |
How does Location Impact Success?
States with the highest average salaries remain the largest tech hubs with plenty of developer jobs: California, New York City, and Utah were among the states with highest average salaries (Table 21). Note: Only cities with a significant sample size were included in Table 21.
| City | Pre-bootcamp | Post-bootcamp | % Employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | $49,840 | $100,482 | 81% |
| New York | $55,348 | $74,756 | 82% |
| Utah | $38,199 | $54,363 | 82% |
| Online | $50,261 | $70,500 | 76% |
| Other | $44,923 | $61,345 | 70% |
How does Undergraduate Major Impact Success?
Does a students' academic background affect their success after a coding bootcamp? For respondents who reported earning Associates, Bachelor's, Graduate, or Professional Degrees, the highest salaried students studied Engineering and Mathematics. Anthropology and Physical Science majors saw the most drastic change in salary, and Marketing/Advertising majors were most likely to be employed after graduation, in a role requiring technical skills learned at the bootcamp.
| Major/Field of Study | Pre-Bootcamp | Post-Bootcamp | %Employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anthropology/History | $36,440 | $75,115 | 78% |
| Architecture | $50,343 | $84,053 | 76% |
| Art/Art History | $38,545 | $71,606 | 74% |
| Business | $65,918 | $82,624 | 83% |
| Communications/Journalism | $47,910 | $61,186 | 77% |
| Computer Science | $50,949 | $83,056 | 80% |
| Economics | $55,099 | $83,892 | 70% |
| Engineering | $68,720 | $90,666 | 94% |
| Education | $37,922 | $62,377 | 73% |
| Foreign Language | $52,334 | $51,940 | 81% |
| Graphic Design | $40,325 | $49,860 | 86% |
| Health/Medicine | $59,654 | $75,876 | 72% |
| IT | $53,961 | $63,135 | 87% |
| Law | $61,129 | $75,822 | 79% |
| Life Sciences | $35,972 | $74,892 | 87% |
| Literature/Writing | $53,038 | $69,117 | 85% |
| Marketing/Advertising | $39,694 | $77,245 | 94% |
| Mathematics | $47,338 | $87,174 | 92% |
| Music/Dance/Performing Arts | $37,584 | $71,070 | 70% |
| Other | $43,261 | $62,797 | 73% |
| Physical Sciences | $37,689 | $86,628 | 71% |
| Political Science | $43,545 | $81,515 | 83% |
| Psychology | $40,852 | $63,711 | 83% |
Demographics
Student Demographic Profile
Respondents self-reported demographic information such as age, gender, and race. The student profile is summarized below in Tables 1a-1e.
The average age of a coding bootcamp graduate is 30 years-old (median age is 29 years-old). The youngest respondent was 17 years old; the oldest respondent was 65 years old.
| Age | All Respondents | 2017 Grads |
|---|---|---|
| Average | 30 years | 29 years |
| Median | 29 years | 28 years |
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 2016 Taulbee Survey, an annual survey of computer science programs at accredited universities. The Taulbee study estimated that 17.9% of 2016 Bachelor's degrees in Computer Science were awarded to females. Our study suggests that bootcamps (36% female) compare favorably to traditional computer science departments (as well as masters programs) on gender diversity.
| Gender | Total | 2011-15 Grads | 2016 Grads | 2017 Grads | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 61% | 66% | 62% | 57% | |
| Female | 36% | 33% | 35% | 40% | |
| Non-binary | 3% | 1% | 3% | 3% |
| Gender | In-Person | Online |
|---|---|---|
| Male | 57% | 49% |
| Female | 40% | 49.5% |
| Non-binary | 3% | 1.5% |
Bootcamp graduates have a very strong over-representation of Asian people (22% of 2017 graduates vs. 5% of US population) and a very strong under-representation of Black/African American people (5% of graduates vs. 13% of the US population). We compare ethnicity in respondents to the 2010 US Census.
| Ethnicity | US Census | All Respondents | 2017 Grads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hispanic | 16% | 8% | 9% |
| White/Caucasian | 72% | 69% | 65% |
| Black/African American | 13% | 5% | 5% |
| Asian | 5% | 18% | 22% |
| Native American, Pacific Islander etc. | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Other | 9% | 7% | 7% |
The gap between all respondents and 2017 graduates in share of Naturalized Citizens is partially explained by the age difference (2017 graduates are younger so have had less time to get naturalized).
| Citizenship | All Respondents | 2017 Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| US Citizen, Born in the US | 78% | 85% |
| US Citizen, Naturalized | 5% | 1% |
| No | 17% | 14% |
Education
The majority of bootcamp grads already have at least a Bachelor's degree. However, only 54% of alumni who graduated from a bootcamp in 2017 have a Bachelor's degree (compared to 59% for all graduates). Fields of study are widespread: the top 5 (out of 24) only represents 35% of the total. The most frequent pre-bootcamp education fields are business/public administration, psychology, computer science, engineering and communications/journalism.
| Education | All Grads | 2017 Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Did not complete high school | 0% | 0% |
| High school graduate (or GED) | 4% | 5% |
| Associate's degree | 5% | 7% |
| Professional school degree | 2% | 1% |
| Some college (1-4 years) | 15% | 17% |
| Bachelor's degree | 59% | 54% |
| Master's degree | 15% | 16% |
| Doctorate degree | 1% | 0% |
| Study Field (Top 5) | 2017 Graduates |
|---|---|
| Business/ Public Administration | 11% |
| Psychology/ Philosohpy | 8% |
| Computer Science | 6% |
| Engineering | 6% |
| Communications/ Journalism | 5% |
Location of Bootcamp Attendance
The majority of bootcampers attended their courses in New York, while California was the state that had the highest amount of bootcamp graduates.
| City | Percent of Total |
|---|---|
| New York | 17.4% |
| San Francisco | 13.6% |
| Chicago | 4.3% |
| Portland | 3.6% |
| Seattle | 3.4% |
| Provo | 3.4% |
| Denver | 2.9% |
| Washington | 2.2% |
| Charlotte | 2.1% |
| Atlanta | 2.1% |
| Living States (Top 10) | All Respondents |
|---|---|
| California | 22% |
| New York | 16% |
| Utah | 6% |
| Washington | 5% |
| Illinois | 4% |
| Oregon | 4% |
| North Carolina | 4% |
| Texas | 4% |
| Colorado | 4% |
| Georgia | 3% |
Of the respondents who attended bootcamp abroad (11.4%), more than half live in Canada (57%), 18% live in Europe, and only 10% live in Australia. The full split for all graduates follows:
| Location | Percent of Total | Percent of Abroad |
|---|---|---|
| North America- Canada | 6.5% | 57% |
| Europe | 2.1% | 18% |
| Australia | 1.2% | 10% |
| South America | 0.4% | 3% |
| Asia | 0.4% | 3% |
| N/A | 0.6% | 5% |
| Total | 11.4% | 100% |
9% of bootcamp graduates attended their full-time bootcamp online.
| Location | Total | 2011-15 | 2016 Grads | 2017 Grads | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In-Person | 91.5% | 93.7% | 90.3% | 90.9% | |
| Online | 8.5% | 6.3% | 9.7% | 9.1% |
Pre-Bootcamp Programming Experience
Most respondents (64%) did some self-teaching prior to attending bootcamp, and 30% were complete beginners prior to enrolling.
| Former Programming Level |
|
2017 Grads |
|---|---|---|
| Complete Beginner | 30% | 34% |
| Some self-teaching in my free time | 64% | 59% |
| Experienced Programmer | 6% | 7% |
Pre-Bootcamp Work Experience
The average previous work experience among students is ~6 years, although 17% report being unemployed prior to bootcamp enrollment, as shown in Table 5a. 50% of bootcamp students join with less than 4 years of work experience. Respondents with master's degrees tend to join with more experience. 75% of graduates (77% of 2017 graduates) were working in some capacity before they started bootcamp .
| All Respondents | 2017 Graduates | |
|---|---|---|
| Work Experience | Mean (USD) | Mean (USD) |
| Years | 6.0* | 5.7 |
| Salary | Mean (USD) | Mean (USD) |
| All respondents | $46,974** | $45,572** |
| Pre-Camp Employment Status | % | % |
| Employed full-time | 58% | 59% |
| Employed part-time | 8% | 9% |
| Employed freelance | 5% | 5% |
| Self-employed/Entrepreneur | 4% | 3.5% |
| Homemaker/"stay at home" parent | 1% | 1% |
| Student | 7% | 7% |
| Unemployed | 17% | 15.5% |
*Median years worked was 4.0 years.
**Figure concentrates on full-time positions only (i.e. including "Employed – freelance or independent contractor", "Employed full-time", "Self-employed Entrepreneur").
| Pre-bootcamp Work Industry | All | 2017 Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| IT/Web Development/Design | 13% | 13% |
| Hospitality/Retail/Tourism | 11% | 10% |
| Education | 10% | 8% |
| Marketing/Advertising/Journalism | 8% | 6.5% |
| Finance/Accounting | 8% | 8.5% |
| Government/Non-profit/Human Services | 6% | 6% |
| Health Care | 5.5% | 7% |
| Fashion/Entertainment/Music | 4% | 4% |
| Consulting (Business, Management) | 4% | 5% |
| Manufacturing | 3% | 2% |
| Construction | 2.5% | 3% |
| Real Estate | 1% | 1.5% |
| Other | 24% | 26% |
Applications & Student Motivations
Most graduates report applying to a coding bootcamp in order to get a job as a programmer (88%), and 4% report attending in order to start their own company. Less than 1% report attending bootcamp to get a promotion or change jobs with their current employer. On average, bootcampers apply to 1.5 schools. 89% of bootcamp graduates (90% of 2017 graduates) were accepted to all the schools they applied to.
| All Respondents | 2017 Graduates | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of Applications | Mean | Mean |
| Number of Applications | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Number of Accepted Applications | 1.33 | 1.36 |
| Reason for Attending a Bootcamp | % | % |
| Getting a programming job | 88% | 86% |
| Starting a company | 3.5% | 3% |
| Getting a non-technical job | 3% | 3% |
| Freelancing/contracting | 1% | 1% |
| Getting a promotion | 1% | 2% |
| Other | 3.5% | 5% |
Finally, the most important factor to a future bootcamper when deciding between bootcamps are Alumni Outcomes. 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.
| Primary Reasons for Selecting | All | 2017 Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Alumni Outcomes | 35% | 30.5% |
| Curriculum | 20% | 22% |
| Instructors | 19% | 20% |
| Tuition | 10% | 9% |
| Location | 10% | 12.5% |
| Scholarship | 4% | 5% |
| Facilities | 2% | 1% |
Tuition
Average tuition for a coding bootcamp is $11,874, with most students paying for school themselves or with the help of family and external loans (Table 7). The highest tuition paid is $85,000 (Holberton School). The middle 50% of 2017 graduates paid between $8k and $15k. Only 14% of graduates report that their school offered a job guarantee. Of the respondents whose bootcamp offered a job guarantee, 45% received a full or partial refund if they weren't employed after graduating.
| All Respondents | 2017 Graduates | |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition Cost | USD | USD |
| Median | $12,000 | $12,500 |
| Average | $11,874 | $11,696 |
| Source of Funding | % | % |
| Self | 49% | 43% |
| Family | 20% | 18% |
| External Loan | 17% | 20% |
| Scholarship | 7% | 10% |
| Financing through Bootcamp | 4% | 5% |
| Employer Sponsorship | 3% | 4% |
| Tuition Refunds | ||
| % Offered Job Guarantee | 14% | 13% |
| Received refund | 45% | 32% |
Funding Sources
While most 2017 graduates (43%) cover tuition by Self-funding, their share is decreasing from 60% for 2011-2015 graduates. This is compensated by the rise of External Loans and Scholarships. This year over year comparison is shown in Table 8a.
| Type of Funding By Year | All | 2011-2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self | 49% | 60% | 48% | 43% | |
| Family | 20% | 22% | 19% | 18% | |
| External Loan | 17% | 9% | 20% | 20% | |
| Scholarship | 7% | 3% | 6% | 10% | |
| Bootcamp | 4% | 4% | 4% | 5% | |
| Employer Sponsorship | 3% | 2% | 3% | 4% |
The most popular lending partners used are Climb Credit and Skills Fund (Table 8b). For the 310 students who used External Loans, an average of 86% of the tuition cost was covered by a lending partner. The distribution of lending partners is shown below for those 310 students who used External Loans.
| Graduation Year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lending Partner | All | 2011-15 | 2016 | 2017 | |
| Climb Credit | 34% | 30% | 33.5% | 35% | |
| Skills Fund | 27% | 0% | 21% | 39% | |
| Earnest | 7% | 19% | 12% | 0% | |
| Pave | 5% | 2% | 8% | 4% | |
| Affirm + Lendlayer | 8% | 27% | 6% | 3% | |
| Upstart | 2% | 2% | 5% | 0% | |
| Other (credit cards etc.) | 17% | 20% | 14.5% | 19% |
Participating Schools
Respondents in the 2017 Coding Bootcamp Student Outcomes & Demographics Study graduated from the following 73 bootcamps:
*This bootcamp is no longer operating.
Methodology
We received responses from graduates from 73 coding schools, commonly referred to as "bootcamps." We received 1626 responses, 1450 of which met the criteria described below. 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 26, 2017.
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 (2014-2017) 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.
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.
