Full-Time vs Part-Time Bootcamps at Tech Elevator

Table of Contents

• Tech Elevator’s Part-Time vs Full-Time Programs Cheat Sheet

Tech Elevator is known for its rigorous Java curriculum and comprehensive Pathway Program that prepares students for their first tech roles. But how do you choose between Tech Elevator’s full-time bootcamp and the part-time bootcamp? Rita Stall, Senior Director of Digital Programs at Tech Elevator, breaks down the differences (and similarities!) between full-time and part-time bootcamps, and dispels any worries that incoming students may have about hireability as a part-time student!

Meet Our Expert: Rita Stall, Senior Director of Digital Programs

• As the Senior Director of Digital Programs, Rita oversees the delivery and teams for Tech Elevator’s full-time and part-time online programs. 
• Rita has been with Tech Elevator since 2018 and launched the online programs in 2021 when the COVID-19 pandemic made them create a remote learning space!

Tech Elevator’s Part-Time vs Full-Time Programs Cheat Sheet

At a high level, what can students expect from Tech Elevator’s full-time bootcamp?

Students of the full-time program complete a 14-week intensive bootcamp covering Java, starting with the fundamentals of programming with object oriented principles in Java and into database principles like sorting, stacking, and querying large data sets. Students then move into server side technologies then front end technologies, like HTML, CSS and JavaScript. 

Projects include building a full stack web application as part of a team and a final capstone project. There are three modules of curriculum plus a final module, and there are mini capstone projects at the end of each module.

Related read: Get an inside look at Tech Elevator’s Capstone Projects. 

What can students expect from the part-time bootcamp vs full-time bootcamp?

Our part-time bootcamp is exactly the same curriculum as our full-time Java bootcamp, but at half pace. You can get a closer look at our curriculum in our downloadable Course Overview Packet. 

How long does it take part-time students vs full-time students to finish the bootcamp?

The full-time bootcamp is Monday through Friday 9am-5pm for 14 weeks. Students should expect 40 hours of required work in class. Outside of class hours, students can expect to put in at least another hour or two every day through the week to do homework and exercises.

The part-time bootcamp is 30 weeks long and it has to be completed in that time. Students can’t move faster than that pace. There are four required hours of synchronous learning that can be chosen between three different course selections and an average of 20 hours a week of asynchronous learning for a total of 20-25 hours a week for the part-time bootcamp. 

Are both the full-time and part-time coding bootcamps offered online and in-person at Tech Elevator? 

We offer our full-time bootcamp online or in-person at our Ohio and Pennsylvania campuses. Our part-time bootcamp is only available online.

Is there an ideal student for the part-time or full-time bootcamps at Tech Elevator?

Successful students of our part-time program are great at self-pacing and keeping themselves on schedule. It's a lot of asynchronous learning, so they need to actively utilize the resources available to them, either through our LMS tool or through instructing staff that's available during those asynchronous hours. Successful part-time students are able to budget their time well and seek out help when they need it, as well as have an independent learning style that benefits from watching videos and reading. 

Successful students in our full-time programs are energized working side-by-side with peers and appreciate more opportunities to meet and engage with local alumni, mentors and employers in person.  

And are there any other considerations for students who are considering part-time or full-time programs that happen in-person at a Tech Elevator campus vs online?

If you want an in-person experience, you have to do the full-time program. Full-time online students are still in a Zoom session with their instructors for 4-8 hours a day, so it’s really important that they can commit that time.  

Do part-time students often juggle working while completing the bootcamp?

About 90% of students in our part-time program are full-time workers, students, and/or parents — these students definitely have full-time responsibilities outside of our part-time program. You can hear directly from a few of our part-time alumni directly in this blog post! 

The opposite would be true for our full-time students, where this bootcamp is their full-time job with some part-time responsibilities outside of the classroom hours.

Do full-time students always quit their jobs in order to completely dedicate their time to the bootcamp?

We've definitely seen our full-time students do some type of gig economy work, but we highly discourage it. The full-time bootcamp is really a full-time commitment. When students have downtime outside bootcamp hours, we encourage them to spend time with family and friends and tend to their own mental health. It’s a lot to try to juggle our full-time program with any other type of part-time work, so we discourage it.

Can applicants expect the same admissions process no matter if they’re applying to the part-time or full-time bootcamps?

They are receiving the same admissions process with the exception that we offer an asynchronous interview only for our part-time students because we have found that some of the students are not available to interview during our regularly scheduled working hours. These interviews are reviewed by a full-time staff member who will then reach out to answer any follow-up questions. 

Are there different financing options or scholarships for full-time vs part-time applicants?

There is a difference in financing for the full-time program. 

• For all of our programs, students can access Sallie Mae or Ascent as loan providers as well as have the same eligibility to apply for our Represent Tech scholarship and workforce grants. 
• In order to use veterans benefits like the GI Bill students have to be in-person. Veterans may use VET TEC towards tuition but only for our online full-time bootcamp.
• We offer an income share agreement (ISA) for full-time students only. 

If you need more financial assistance, a full-time program might be better for you. 

Who are the instructors for the full-time and part-time bootcamps?

All of our instructors are full-time W-2s of our programs. There are occasional exceptions for our Saturday classes, but those instructors complete the same instructor training process and we vet them exactly the same way. This ensures that they know the curriculum and are able to deliver that in a high-quality way.

Do part-time students receive the same types and amount of instructional support as full-time students?

Instructors are available to our students 40 hours a week — whether through their synchronous or asynchronous time, they can always access their instructor for 1-on-1 support. In addition, all of our students have access to a centralized help team made up of instructors and academic fellows who monitor a help desk, where students can access support between 8am and midnight EST Monday through Friday and on Saturday and Sunday from 8am to 9pm EST. Whenever a student has a question, they always have live support to help them. 

What is the community like for part-time versus full-time students at Tech Elevator?

Full-time students are together for 40+ hours a week so community is built-in. Part-time students get that sense of community through classrooms, where they’re with the same 18-20 students for the entire 32-week long program. We still put them in paired exercises in small groups, so they get to know more of the students when they're working on those exercises together. We're finding great student-to-student support, even in our part-time asynchronous programs!

Do part-time students ever interact or collaborate with full-time students?

Students of both programs interact with each other weekly through built-in peer exercises! They don’t collaborate much beyond that. The peer-to-peer channels are class-specific so they can work together through their own material.

Do both full-time and part-time students receive career services through The Pathway Program?

Yes! All students are required to complete The Pathway Program sessions with career services and have access to a Pathway Director for 1:1 sessions. There are intentionally more sessions for part-time students who have more needs around scheduling. The only difference between full-time and part-time is the number of required sessions - 15 for full-time and 30 for part-time, respectively. 

Has your team found that either full-time or part-time students are more hireable? Or do all graduates have the same opportunities of landing a tech role?

I recognize the fear of part-time students feeling less valuable, but I want to squash it! All Tech Elevator students graduate with the same credibility and opportunity. When we work with hiring partners, we sell our graduates the same way. We are also finding that some students are reskilling with the part-time program to stay with their current company.

What are your tips for incoming students on making the most of the full-time and part-time bootcamps?

Don't be shy about asking questions! There's more that you don't know than you do for a very long time. Get comfortable with saying you don’t understand something. We don’t want students to independently struggle for too long. We really want to make sure that they're continuing to learn — not to go down rabbit holes and struggle. Getting comfortable raising your hand to ask a question will make you successful in the workforce when you need to ask for help in your working environment!

Find out more and read Tech Elevator reviews on Course Report. This article was produced by the Course Report team in partnership with Tech Elevator.