Written By Liz Eggleston
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Course Report is pleased to present our seventh annual Market Sizing Report, another in-depth, empirical study that takes stock of the coding bootcamp industry each year. Course Report polled every full-time, in-person US/Canadian bootcamp with courses in web and mobile development, gathering statistics on 2019 graduates and projected 2020 graduation rates.
This year marks the 8th anniversary for the coding bootcamp industry, and the number of coding bootcamp graduates continues to grow since the first bootcamps launched in 2012. Coding bootcamps are a $350 million industry and will graduate ~25,000 developers in 2020.
Coding bootcamps graduated 24,975 students in 2020 and due to COVID-19, have taught almost students almost entirely online. Course Report found:
*We estimated undergraduate CS graduates by using the 2018 Taulbee Study, published by the CRA. The Taulbee Study is a survey of PhD-granting departments, released annually in May.
After surveying school representatives from qualifying coding bootcamps, Course Report estimates that coding bootcamps will educate 50,137 graduates in 2020 – this includes in-person coding bootcamps, online coding bootcamps, and corporate training.
Self-Reported Graduates | |
---|---|
2020 in-person graduates (projected) | 9,356 |
2020 online bootcamp graduates | 15,619 |
2020 corporate training graduates | 25,162 |
Total 2020 graduates | 50,137 |
The coding bootcamp market continues to grow year over year. Since 2013, the industry has grown 1047% from 2,178 graduates in 2013 to 24,975 graduates in 2020.
Due to COVID-19, the mode of delivery (online vs in-person) shifted in 2020. In-person coding bootcamps swiftly transitioned to delivering live remote instruction, so you'll notice that the number of online graduates in 2020 sharply increased by 306%, while the number of in-person graduates fell by 34%.
Year | Online | In-Person | Total |
---|---|---|---|
2013 graduates (actual) | n/a | 2,178 | 2,178 |
2014 graduates (actual) | n/a | 6,740 | 6,740 |
2015 graduates (actual) | n/a | 10,333 | 10,333 |
2016 graduates (actual) | n/a | 15,077 | 15,077 |
2017 graduates (actual) | 677 | 16,190 | 16,867 |
2018 graduates (actual) | 2,022 | 13,407 | 15,429 |
2019 graduates (actual) | 3,849 | 14,178 | 18,027 |
2020 graduates (projected) | 15,619 | 9,356 | 24,975 |
Estimated growth rate (2019-2020) | 306% | -34% | 39% |
Industry growth rate since 2013 | +1047% |
Self-Reported Graduates | |
---|---|
2019 graduates (actual) | 3,849 |
2020 graduates (projected) | 15,619 |
Estimated growth rate (2019-2020) | 306% |
This year's report accounts for 8 schools that have closed or were consolidated/acquired (see more in Participating Schools).
Web development coding bootcamps choose teaching languages like Ruby on Rails, Full-Stack JavaScript, .NET/C#, Java, Python, or PHP. Analyzing the Course Report database of individual courses, we find that in 2020, Full-Stack JavaScript has maintained its position as the primary teaching language. 50% of courses reported Full-Stack JavaScript as the primary programming language (Chart 1a). Not only are schools new to the market choosing JavaScript, but established bootcamps are also migrating their curricula to emphasize JavaScript.
Chart 1a: Top Full-Stack Web Development Teaching Languages by Courses
Mobile Development coding bootcamps have historically been taught using Java (Android), Objective-C (iOS), or Swift (iOS). In 2020, 55% of Mobile Development bootcamps teach iOS with Swift (Chart 1b), marking a shift from Objective-C to Swift.
Chart 1b: Top Mobile Development Teaching Languages by Courses
This year’s market sizing report includes bootcamps that provide a coding-specific curriculum with a focus on Full-Stack Web Development, Mobile Development, or Front-End Web Development. Of these three career tracks, Chart 1c shows the continued popularity of Full-Stack Web Development – 90% of coding bootcamp grads learn Full-Stack Web Development (Chart 1c).
Chart 1c: Top Career Tracks by Graduates
Our 2019 Market Sizing Study projected the 2019 market size of in-person + online coding bootcamp graduates to be 23,043 graduates. Our 2020 study finds that the actual market size in 2019 for in-person + online graduates was 18,027 graduates. Thus, coding bootcamps overestimated their 2019 growth by 24%.
In March 2020, coding bootcamps reacted to stay-at-home orders quickly by transitioning to remote learning. 84% of bootcamps reported that they moved entirely online during the COVID-19 pandemic. 12% of schools reported that they were already online. Only 4% of schools reported that they did not move entirely online during COVID-19 (they either paused enrollment or maintained a hybrid classroom).
As a result, we saw a complete shift in market size and growth rate from in-person to online.
For the 2020 report, we asked bootcamps about the impact that COVID-19 had on six key areas: demand, acceptance rate, attrition, job placement, length of program, and ISA/Deferred tuition usage.
Impact of COVID-19 on Bootcamps | Higher | No Change | Lower |
---|---|---|---|
Demand for a bootcamp | 47% | 27% | 26% |
Acceptance Rate | 14% | 71% | 15% |
Attrition | 34% | 54% | 12% |
Success in Job Placement | 5% | 35% | 59% |
Length of Program | 8% | 89% | 3% |
Students Using ISA/Deferred Tuition | 19% | 75% | 5% |
We find that coding bootcamps continue to put more resources into training new developers through Corporate Training partnerships. In 2020, 40 bootcamps report that they have corporate training partnerships. Tables 6 & 7 show the growth of this category.
# graduates | |
---|---|
2019 graduates | 20,432 |
2020 graduates | 25,162 |
Growth Rate | 23% |
# partners | |
---|---|
2019 partners | 349 |
2020 partners | 493 |
Growth Rate | 41% |
Bootcamps are training students from a wide variety of industries. Of the 14 industries company partners work with, the majority (24%) of corporate training students currently work in Financial Services.
Industry | # Partners | % |
---|---|---|
Financial Services | 38 | 24% |
Healthcare | 19 | 12% |
Education | 17 | 11% |
Retail | 16 | 10% |
Professional Services (Law, Consulting, etc.) | 12 | 8% |
Data Infrastructure, Telecom | 11 | 7% |
Media, Creative Industries | 10 | 6% |
Transport, Logistics | 8 | 5% |
Industrials (Manufacturing, Construction, etc.) | 7 | 4% |
Life Sciences | 6 | 4% |
Energy, Utilities | 5 | 3% |
Public Service, Social Service | 5 | 3% |
Agriculture, Forestry, Mining | 1 | 1% |
Hospitality, Food, Leisure Travel | 2 | 1% |
Tuition ranges from $3,500 to $30,000 for an in-person course, with an average tuition of $14,142. Courses range from 6 to 52 weeks with an average of 17.3 weeks, but most courses are in the 12-week range. Our study focuses on full-time programs, where students typically commit at least 40 hours per week, between classroom and programming time.
Tuition | % |
---|---|
Free | 3% |
Less than $5,000 | 4% |
$5000 - $9,999 | 16% |
$10,000 - $14,999 | 42% |
Greater than $15,000 | 36% |
Schools offering Deferred Tuition | 7 |
Schools offering Income Sharing Agreement | 23 |
Based on our estimate of 24,975 bootcamp graduates in 2020, we estimate tuition revenue at $349,426,408 in 2020, excluding rebates and scholarships.
In 2020, 30 schools offer alternative tuition options like deferred tuition, income-sharing agreements, or employer-sponsorship.
9 bootcamps are not included in the 2020 study which were included in 2019, for a variety of reasons:
In our seventh annual Course Report Survey, we surveyed a total of 97 coding schools commonly referred to as “bootcamps” or “accelerated learning programs.” Due to COVID-19, most bootcamps taught online during the period of this report. 98% of online programs were responsive and 82% of in-person programs were responsive in 2020. The surveys were sent to school representatives and graduation figures are self-reported by the respondents.
Criteria – In-Person. To qualify for inclusion in the survey, a school must (a) offer full-time, in-person instruction of 40 or more hours of classroom time per week, (b) not be administered by an accredited college or university, (c) provide coding-specific curriculum with a focus on Full-Stack Web Development, Mobile Development, or Front-End Web Development (a separate report will be released for schools specializing in product development, data science, design, marketing, or security), and (d) have campuses in the United States or Canada. Many schools offer courses at multiple campuses across a wide range of curriculums. Respondents were asked to only report on courses meeting the above criteria (full-time, in-person, non-accredited, programming-specific, United States/Canada).
Criteria – Online. To qualify for inclusion in the survey, a school must (a) offer full-time, synchronous, online instruction of 40 or more hours of classroom time per week, (b) not be administered by an accredited college or university, (c) provide coding-specific curriculum with a focus on Full-Stack Web Development, Mobile Development, or Front-End Web Development and (d) be instructor-led.
2020 Forecast. All participants reported the number of students who graduated in 2020. All participants also provided estimates of their expected, 2020 graduate total.
Course Analysis. In addition to survey responses, we utilized the Course Report database of individual courses to analyze all courses (used in Table 5 and Chart 1) from the 97 qualifying schools. To qualify for our sample, the course needed to meet all of the above criteria and have a start date in 2020.
About Course Report. Course Report, founded in 2013 by Liz Eggleston and Adam Lovallo, operates https://www.coursereport.com/, which helps potential students find and research coding bootcamp programs. Course Report offers a directory of schools, course schedules, reviews and interviews with teachers, founders, students, and alumni.
Liz Eggleston is co-founder of Course Report, the most complete resource for students choosing a coding bootcamp. Liz has dedicated her career to empowering passionate career changers to break into tech, providing valuable insights and guidance in the rapidly evolving field of tech education. At Course Report, Liz has built a trusted platform that helps thousands of students navigate the complex landscape of coding bootcamps.
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