September 2020 Coding Bootcamp News

Table of Contents

• CODING BOOTCAMP REGULATORY NEWS
• TAKING A GAP YEAR
• WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN 2020
• TIPS FOR YOUR REMOTE TECH JOB SEARCH
• BRIDGING THE TECH GAP: NEW SCHOLARSHIPS!
• NEW BOOTCAMPS IN SEPTEMBER
• 14 NEW SCHOOLS ON COURSE REPORT

It’s a new school year, but with COVID-19 ever-present, we read more interesting articles about Gap Year opportunities for college students. There was plenty of buzz around workforce development in September, from who’s leading the charge with new initiatives to how best support the nearly 20 million unemployed workers in the U.S. This September, we caught more regulatory news from California about the fate of Income Share Agreements. Plus, we round up the coding bootcamps opening up their virtual doors this Fall and the 14 new schools added to the Course Report school directory this month!

Curious about what happened in August? Check out last month’s episode with the biggest bootcamp news from August 2020.

CODING BOOTCAMP REGULATORY NEWS

• Forbes reported on how the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE) ruled that Lambda School can offer Income Share Agreements, which are now called Retail Installment Contracts. The main difference is that California students’ obligation to pay their ISAs will no longer automatically terminate after two years of payments. 

• Education Dive covered a new bill passed by California lawmakers that could make it easier for the state to oversee non-profit colleges that previously operated as for-profits. 

• Seeking Alpha named Chegg an ‘underappreciated Covid-19 winner,’ citing their purchase of Thinkful as one of the reasons for growth and profitability.

TAKING A GAP YEAR

• The New York Times cited the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center’s report that says undergraduate enrollment in the U.S. is down 2.5% from last fall.

• Inside Higher Ed cautions against over focusing on technical skills in college. 

• CNBC reports that current and former Google employees have stepped up to create a virtual tech school for gap year students called Xoogler School. 

• Codecademy is jumping on the Gap Year bandwagon by launching a new Pro Student membership for college students.

• Lifehacker posted an article in September about how to pay for it. Their advice is to start with your employer, who can offer up to $5,250 of tax-free education assistance.

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN 2020

• Reuters cited a U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics report that projects U.S. employment will increase to 6 million this decade, and that millions of Americans are now experiencing “long-term unemployment,” which is more than 26 weeks without a job. 

• Richard Wang, the CEO of Coding Dojo, wrote in Forbes this month that the solution for post-pandemic employment is deepening investment in the existing tech workforce and ramping up tech literacy for all. Business Journal also reported that Coding Dojo has partnered with Jewish Family Services to identify refugees in need of help and those students went through Coding Dojo’s web development training.

• New America and Graduate! Network released a joint report that researches how adult learners return to school to complete a degree. 

• Technically Philly focused on how two Pittsburgh bootcamps, Academy PGH and Tech Elevator, and TechHirePGH, a community-supported initiative to hire local tech talent, create an opportunity to hire a more diverse workforce in Pittsburgh. 

• The Queens Daily Eagle reports that Small Business Services (also known as SBS) has created Career Discovery NYC, an online portal that helps users learn about, prepare for and enroll in free career training. The portal includes a free coding 101 course from Fullstack Academy and access to Codecademy. 

• According to ABC10, the City of Sacramento and the Greater Sacramento Urban League used the CARES Act funding to train 40 people in either IT support or data analytics, called the Digital Upskill Sacramento Program. Sacramento partnered with General Assembly and Merit America to deliver this new program. Participants get free laptops and $600 per week!  

• WBIW reports that, through funding from the CARES Act, Eleven Fifty Academy offers up to $10,000 in tuition costs regardless of employment status or education level. Those who lost jobs during the pandemic could qualify for 100% tuition covered. 

• Fox San Antonio about a new apprenticeship program through the Department of Labor that’s putting people to work in tech during the pandemic. 

• Tech Republic posted an article on how to land a career-level tech job without a college degree.

TIPS FOR YOUR REMOTE TECH JOB SEARCH

• Builtin article explains the importance of horizontal networking, plus best practices for remote networking, and a list of online communities to network with.

• Computer Weekly shared that only 10% of IT professionals have the cybersecurity fields that the UK needs, and there’s currently a shortage of around 140,000 skilled workers. 

• If you’re thinking of making a career change into cybersecurity, check out our guide! 

• BrainStation contributed to a Daily Hive article about the five careers you can pursue after a bootcamp. 

BRIDGING THE TECH GAP: NEW SCHOLARSHIPS!

• News 5 Cleveland reports that Tech Elevator is bridging the tech gap by investing $1M into its Represent Tech scholarship. Aimed at those who are underrepresented in the current tech industry, the scholarship covers 85% of tuition costs. 

• The Valdosta Daily Times reported that Optimizely and Galvanize are now offering full-ride scholarships plus paid apprenticeships to those who identify as women, are people of color, are part of the LGBTQ or disability communities, or are a military veteran.

• Bloomberg reports that Cisco is committed to increasing the company’s workforce of Black people by 25% by 2023 in its entry-level and manager positions. 

• According to Star Tribune, Best Buy says that 30% of its 1,000 new tech hires will be people of color and/or women. 

NEW BOOTCAMPS IN SEPTEMBER

• Southern New Hampshire University launched a remote cybersecurity bootcamp in partnership with Cybint, which is aimed at refugee and displaced learners abroad who have no IT experience. 

• Fullstack Academy opened up online cybersecurity and coding bootcamps at University of Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, and Emory University!

• Emerson College launched its new, part-time data analytics bootcamp in partnership with 2U. 

• Noodle Partners has partnered with Strategic Education in order to provide employers with a seamless approach to administering tuition assistance benefits. Strategic Education owns the coding bootcamps Devmountain and Hackbright Academy.

• Sabio has partnered with National University to offer a coding bootcamp professional development program that offers college credit to program graduates!

14 NEW SCHOOLS ON COURSE REPORT

In September, we added 14 schools to our Course Report school listings:

• Nod

• FourthBrain

• Fireblaze AI School

• Jedha

• Emerson College Data Analytics Bootcamp

• Dallas Data Science Academy

• San Diego State University

• New Jersey Institute of Technology 

• Loyola University

• Code Academy Berlin

• UpLeveled 

• Digikull 

• Amagi Academy

• UX Pro Academy

This month, Jess was excited to speak with former history teacher and LearningFuze alum James about how he was able to pivot from teaching to being a remote software engineer after bootcamp graduation. 

Liz hosted an insightful webinar on Python for Data Science with Metis instructor Kim Fessel. Whether you’re thinking about learning Python or about starting a career in data science, this is the perfect place to start!