Are Coding Bootcamps Worth it? We Looked At The Numbers Ourselves

Spend less time pursuing expensive four-year degrees and push learning in demand high paying skills.

It’s possible to set yourself up to earn six figures, change the course of your life and quickly make up for that lost time in college.

In today’s post I want to show you how easy it can be to learn a high paying skill and explain if it’s worth it to join coding bootcamps.

Here’s What We’re Covering:

• Student Loans: Bad Solution To An Even Worse Problem
• Don’t Panic And Make These Mistakes
• Give Yourself A 6 Figure Salary To Pay Off Student Loans Fast
• Wrapping This Up…

Articles are written every year trying to convince us that college is the logical next step.

Take this one for instance,

Slate released an article titled: College is Fun, And Students Care About That

The national average salary for a tech job is about $81,000.

That’s more than double the national average for all jobs.

So what if we did this instead:

No, this wasn’t CollegeHumor or TheBroBible

We’re seeing a huge problem because these are the same people complaining they can’t afford their student loans and hoping for loan forgiveness from the US government.

However, everything you want in life comes from one thing and one thing only.

Learning a high paying skill.

Student Loans: Bad Solution to an Even Worse Problem

Student Loan Statistics: Overview
(As of 4Q 2016, New York Federal Reserve)

Whenever I talk to anyone about college and the student loan crisis the only logical argument that I hear is “people who go to college make more money than people who don’t”.

Side Note: College tuition rises every year yet the earnings of someone with a bachelor’s degree in 1970 is higher than 2013? hmm.

Ultimately, this is where that argument comes from.  The Federal Reserve of NY published an article back in 2013 outlining the pay difference between earning degrees and not earning degrees over the years.

So, on the surface everyone I talk to would be correct. Going to college outweighs not going to college by at least $20,000.

Let’s look deeper:

From the same Federal Reserve study:

Students are entering a world where the pay for a bachelor’s degree is the same as it was in 1970 but everything is more expensive.

So you’re probably wondering:

It doesn’t seem logical to me to start off my career or life after college with chains on my ankles and 20 year pay off dates.

Degrees don’t equal high paying jobs…

Don’t Panic and Make These Mistakes

More and more people are graduating college only learning the skill of becoming better at the game of school.

It’s comical how much money we owe in student loans…

It gets worse:

As a result, people go back to school thinking the answer is another degree or take any job they can get out of desperation because they need to pay back all the money that was so easily borrowed.

There’s a fundamental problem when most people I know don’t have jobs in fields that they studied in.

Or, graduated college feeling like frauds because they have none of the qualifications listed in job postings.

Give Yourself a 6 Figure Salary to Pay Off Student Loans Fast

In 12 weeks you’re a software developer, earning a 6 figure salary, and did not apply to a single student loan.

Picture this in your head.

It sounds almost too good to be true but if you’re interested in learning a skill that will only become more valuable over time then you should keep reading.

Seems like coding bootcamps have been popping up in different places all over the country lately and my favorite by a long mile is App Academy.

In 12 weeks you learn all the skills needed to become a web developer. Their program focuses on intensive and hands-on group based projects.

And here’s the kicker:

You don’t need any prior knowledge of programming for coding bootcamps!

My favorite part about their website is that they say you need “a tenacity and passion for building cool stuff”.

That’s the most incredible line on their site.

We get so many emails daily from people looking for a purpose in life and wanting to do more than just break even every month. The world is changing at an alarming pace and programs like this are just the tip of an enormous iceberg.

LinkedIn recently published an article that Software Engineering open positions grew 13% in 2017 and are expected to keep growing. So much that it’s one of the 20 most promising jobs of 2017.

Statistics for App Academy Graduates

Now let’s look at App Academy by the numbers:

This is an opportunity that you’re going to look back at 20 years from now and wish you jumped on.

You wouldn’t be alone.

Now:

Think about the ever changing world and think about where the money is flowing.

We can either embrace the change and ride this wave or we can ignore it and feel like victims later.

In fact, college is commonly known as a “safe route”.  But there isn’t anything safe about chaining yourself to an enormous debt and an unmarketable degree.

The safety lies in understanding where the future is going and learning how to be a part of it.

One writer referred to App Academy as potentially “much too intense to be fun”.

In terms of time spent in the coding bootcamps, students are in class from 9am-6pm, but taking into account work being done from home before class and time spent after class to study, it ranges from 9-13 hours per day of time spent programming.

Learning a 6 Figure Skill is More Affordable Than You Think

App Academy believes in something they call commission based tuition.

Essentially what that means is that they won’t get paid until you land a job.

You can can elect a 100% deferment plan, 100% upfront plan, and a hybrid of the two.

I believe programs like App Academy and a commission based tuition model can be the future of education, especially in the STEM field.

In fact, this also removes the banks completely out of the picture.

Look:

Despite the cost, you’re paying for a guaranteed result, given that you put in the necessary work.  You’re not paying for amenities, fun classes, partying or anything else.

You’re paying to learn a skill that can give you an unlimited earning potential.

As a result, investing in yourself to acquire high level skills can provide a sense of freedom in job selection and salary throughout your life which transcends any “positive” result from a standard 4 year university.

Investing in technical skills throughout your life is more beneficial than what’s being taught in a standard 4 year university.

What’s the bottom line?:

Why are we spending so much time and money at traditional universities if all of the learning happens in the real world?

Fully Succeed or Fully Refund

We’re seeing the start of an educational revolution providing new options for students.

Universities are subsidized by well intentioned families and the banking systems that were bailed out in 2008. The US government rewarded them with $29 trillion dollars.

Market demand is not forcing the rise of tuition costs. High interest loans given out by banks to desperate students because they’re pressured to pay an artificial cost to universities is the reason we’re in debt.

Here’s the truth:

The value of the university does not reflect the cost anymore.

Zero Hedge published a post Titled” This New Bubble Is Even Bigger Than The Subprime Fiasco”

According to the post, “Young people are pushed into this system by a society that places an irrationally high value on university degrees. Kids are told for their entire lives that if they study hard to get into a good school, there will be a great career waiting for them. For many young people this turned out to be a total lie.”

Universities have an incentive system to get as many people through the front door as possible.  And, I’ve never seen anyone ask for a refund from a university so where’s the incentive to make sure students succeed or get the highest paying job?

Networking Opportunities: App Academy has over 700 alumni working at top companies and they host networking events for their graduates.

Interview Prep: Something that technical people tend to struggle with. They’ll help you make sure that you can showcase all your skills to your future employers.

Salary Negotiations: Wage gaps seem to be everywhere these days and it’s 100% in App Academy’s best interest to make sure you negotiate only the highest salary possible!

Job Assistance for Life: No matter when in your career. If you need job assistance, the people at App Academy will help you out for life.

Ironically, A college degree being the price of admission to a good job is starting to fail.

So, I want to hear how taking a course called “Demystifying The Hipster” at Tufts University which costs $50,000 per year to attend isn’t robbery.

Where students  “Through developing their own standard of what it means to be a hipster, become experts and critics of hipster identity and culture”.

Wrapping This Up…

Talking to the people that make decisions at app academy, they say that not having a college degree comes with it’s own unique challenges when looking for a job but it’s not impossible.

Having a degree of any kind can usually help your case with potential employers and prior experience in technology can certainly go a long way.

Given the current education climate I think it’s worth giving programs like App Academy their fair shot.

It’s time people stand up for what’s happening in the world.  Students are being taken for a ride and only a select few care to do anything about it.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Comment below and let me know what you think about App Academy and if you would ever consider doing 12 week coding bootcamps!

Let’s keep the conversation going below..