Guide to Online Coding Bootcamps

Guide to Online Coding Bootcamps

A coding bootcamp is often looked at as a fast-track into tech. Shorter than a four-year degree, and hyper-focused on a particular area of technology, bootcamps have taken off in the skills-based market in recent years.

Certain jobs may require specific training and certifications. Fortunately, coding bootcamps have popped up across the country that provide training programs to fit the working professional’s schedule and budget. As education costs continue to rise, coding bootcamps are an affordable way to upgrade your tech skills.  This article provides students with information to help you decide on the best coding bootcamp for your needs.

What is a Coding Bootcamp?


Coding bootcamps are an innovative new form of short-term, intensive training sessions in information technology fields, which can involve web and mobile development, security, and design classes. They condense the time and expense needed to learn these tech skills instead of a traditional college degree in computer science. In a matter of a few months, these classes enable students to start careers in software engineering and tech fields. Students can pick certain coding bootcamps that focus on specific tech sectors. Popular concentrations include full-stack development, data science, cybersecurity, UX/UI, and software engineering. These bootcamps can provide an accelerated path to a coding career.

What Do You Learn at a Coding Bootcamp?

Learning code is a central part of most bootcamps. By the end of the bootcamp, you may learn how to code in HTML, CSS, Ruby on Rails, Python Django, JavaScript, or PHP stacks. Other coursework can include modules on current industry software, tools, and techniques.  Also, you may learn other skills such as Full Stack Web Development, Data Science, Digital Marketing, UX/UI Design. With hard work and dedication, you’ll be proficient in coding by the end of your session. Once you master these skills, you can begin a new career as a developer to design and build websites and apps.

Things to Consider When Choosing an Online Bootcamp

Not all coding bootcamps are the same, so it is important to understand some key differences between the programs.

  • Attending in-person, online, or hybrid programs. Coding bootcamps can be in-person while others are completely online, with some operating as hybrid programs.
  • Structured format versus self-paced. Some coding bootcamps have highly structured coursework and schedules while others are self-paced. Depending on your schedule and how you like to work, choosing a program can offer flexibility to complete on your own time or keep you to a tight schedule to finish faster.
  • Choosing part-time or full-time programs. Since many students need different options to complete their coursework, coding programs can be offered full time at 17 weeks or part time that are up to 34 weeks. Some programs are even as short as 12 weeks.
  • Level of coding experience. There are coding bootcamps for all levels, but some coding bootcamps may require prior coding experience. Many classes offered are for complete beginners or for those that are self-taught.
  • Figuring out finances. Financial costs are another important consideration for choosing the right coding bootcamp. Options for students can include deferred payment programs and income share agreements (ISA) as well as scholarships and grants. If you’re fortunate, your employer might help cover the cost or a generous family member.

Doing your homework before choosing a coding bootcamp is critical because most programs are not accredited or affiliated with a university, and thus not subject to oversight. If you have concerns about private coding bootcamps, you can check out the Council on Integrity in Results Reporting, a nonprofit organization that tracks graduation and job outcomes among coding bootcamps. School-affiliated programs usually do not award college credit or financial aid.

Top Coding Bootcamps Right Now

Coding bootcamps have exploded in popularity. Since 2013, coding bootcamps have grown by 1047% from 2,178 graduates in 2013 to 24,975 graduates in 2020. Across the country, approximately 95 in-person coding bootcamps are in operation and 14 online programs in 44 states.

Similar to trade schools, coding bootcamps are typically run by private, for-profit companies. Classes can be offered for both in-person and online, but it depends on the program. Often, these schools are not accredited, so they are not eligible for Federal Student Aid or Title VI funding. The average program length is about 17.3 weeks (some studies say as short as 15.1 weeks!) and the average tuition price of qualifying in-person and online courses is $14,142.

Here’s our list of some of the top coding bootcamps

CareerFoundry

With CareerFoundry, their programs are 100% online and asynchronous so students can learn at their own pace.

  • Duration: Students should plan to complete 2-3 courses per week to graduate on time, the equivalent of 10-15 hours per week. Students who can commit 40+ hours a week to the course will graduate in about 3 months.
  • Cost: $7,900 USD but there are interest-free monthly installment plans and scholarships to support women in tech and for non-degree holders.
  • Job Placement: It takes graduates about 2-10 weeks to find a job after graduating. 96% of eligible graduates get a job in tech within 180 days after completing their program.
  • Features: Classes include UX/UI Design, Web Development, Data Analytics, Digital Marketing, and Product Management with both introductory and advanced courses available, such as Voice User Interface Design and Animation for UI Designers. Offers a job guarantee within 6 months or the student will get their money back. Each student is assigned a dedicated career coach for a tailor-made approach to finding a job.

Fullstack Academy

Located in New York, at Fullstack Academy students can enroll in full-time or part-time coding bootcamps. They offer bootcamps online and in person as well as in data analytics and cybersecurity.

  • Duration: The coding bootcamp in-person program in New York lasts 17 weeks whereas the online coding bootcamp is anywhere between 17–28-week commitment. The part-time program, which is in-person in New York, is 28 weeks.
  • Cost: The in-person coding bootcamp in New York costs $18,910. For the online coding bootcamp, it also costs $18,910. The part-time coding bootcamp is slightly cheaper at $17,480. For students, ways to pay include personal loans, scholarships, and veteran benefits available. Deferred tuition may be available.
  • Job Placement: Students have had a 91% job placement rate among 2019 web development grads and have a median salary of $85,200.
  • Features: The Grace Hopper program is an immersive software engineering course that focuses on women and coding. Generally, course curriculum includes classes in HTML & CSS, Advanced JavaScript, web development, and intro to front-end and back-end development. Their career services help students with mindset and confidence building, resume feedback, job search tactics, networking support, offer negotiation tips, and interview prep.

Flatiron School

The Flatiron School has locations in Denver, Colorado Springs, and New York as well as online options. It has a modern curriculum that is regularly reviewed by industry experts.

  • Duration: Programs can be a 15-week intensive or 20, 40, or 60 weeks flexible online pace options. Concentrations are in software engineering, cybersecurity, data science, or product design.
  • Cost: All of their programs cost $16,900 with a $500 deposit. Students can pay upfront, pay with a loan, or pay in 12 monthly installments with no interest.
  • Job Placement: About 53% of job-seeking grads found their job within 2 months of starting their job search. By 365 days, 86% of students had found employment with an average starting salary of $75,000. Career services help students with resume reviews, mock interviews, and strategies.
  • Features: Offers coursework in software engineering, data science, cybersecurity, product design. 180 days of one-on-one career coaching from experienced career coaching. Employment statistics were verified by a third party, the first bootcamp to do so. It was awarded several awards in 2021: the best online bootcamp, best coding bootcamp, best data science, and best cybersecurity bootcamp. The school offers scholarships and grants for students, including specific ones for women. It has 1-on-1 time with experienced instructors and access to technical coaches for help when you need it.

Coding Dojo 

Coding Dojo has had over 8,000 graduates since 2012. They offer onsite full-time programs, online full-time, online part-time accelerated, and online part-time flex options.

  • Duration: Programs range from 14 weeks (full time) to 28 weeks (part time flex) up to 32 weeks (part time).
  • Cost: Each program has its own cost. The Software Development Bootcamp on-site full-time program costs $14,995. For the Software Development Bootcamp online full-time program, it also costs $14,995. The online part-time accelerated software development starts at $7,495. The online, part-time software development flex program is $7,495. The data science bootcamp online part-time program starts at $7,495. The part-time cybersecurity bootcamp online program starts at $14,995. For the UX/UI design bootcamp part-time online program costs $11,245. Coding Dojo offers income sharing agreements, relief funds, private loans, and scholarship and grants.
  • Job Placement: In 2020, they had a 95.3% job placement rate with $72,325 average starting salary. 89.1% of 2019 Graduates Found a Relevant Job within 180 Days of Graduation.
  • Features: At Coding Dojo, they have campuses in Bellevue, WA, Boise, ID, Chicago, IL, Los Angeles, CA, and Silicon Valley, CA. The programs offer courses to international students and veterans. Students get career services for life. Their coursework is designed for beginners. Coursework includes classes on Python, MERN, Java, and .NET/C#.

General Assembly

General Assembly has been teaching students since 2011. They offer full-time and part-time programs in data analytics, data science, digital marketing, software engineering, user experience design.

  • Duration: Programs range from full-time at 12 weeks, flex immersive on a 24-week schedule, and part time courses from 10 weeks to 24 weeks depending on the topic.
  • Cost: Full-Time: $15,950, Part-Time: $2,800 to $14,950, On-Demand: $950. They offer installment plans and also work with financing partners to offer low-cost loan options for their students. GA has some scholarships available.
  • Job Placement: 7% of graduates who participated in General Assembly’s full-time career services program secured a job in their field of study. Six months post-immersive course completion, 74.4% of GA graduates got a job; three months 42.3% of GA graduates who participated in a full-time job search secured a job. Also, 21.3% accepted a job offer after 180 days.
  • Features: They offer on-demand learning options and immersive course options as well as one-week and weekend courses. General Assembly offers award-winning curriculum and expert instructors, on campus and online. They are a global, professional community of 40,000-plus full- and part-time alumni. Career results from leading-edge courses, with mentorship each step of the way. They have campuses in North America, Australia, Europe, and Asia with over 15 in-person campuses, and more than 25 online communities in 6 countries. They have 70,000+ alumni, 19,000+ hiring partners and more than 25,000 employees of Fortune 500 companies trained in over 20 countries.

Springboard

Springboard’s curriculum is entirely 100% online. Students need to have a bachelor’s degree except not a requirement for the Software Engineering, Cyber Security or Tech Sales Career Tracks if the student has the relevant experience detailed in the terms and conditions.

  • Duration: Coursework can take anywhere from 6 to 9 months to complete depending on whether you are a part-time or full-time student.
  • Cost: Data $9,900/$10,900, Design $7,900/$11,900, Analytics $8,500, and Coding $9,900. Students have several payment options: upfront payments, monthly payments, deferred tuition options. Springboard also has relationships with finance companies for private loans. There are inclusion scholarships available for women, diversity, and needs-based.
  • Job Placement: There is a job guarantee for qualified students where if they do not secure employment in 6 months, then they can get their money back. As of August 2021, 93.2% of job qualified individuals who reported receiving an offer received one within 12 months of graduation and 44% of students had a job offer before graduation.
  • Features: Springboard has coursework in coding, data science, UX/UI design, cybersecurity, and tech sales. Students must be 18 years or older to enroll and eligible to obtain jobs in Canada and the U.S. as well as proficient in English. Also, students must be able to pass background checks associated with job applications.

Udacity

Udacity is an online learning program headquartered in Mountain View, California. It offers “nanodegrees” in certain subjects.

  • Duration: Students can finish courses in as little as 3 months working 5-10 hours per week.
  • Cost: Costs vary depending on the program and whether the student pays monthly or upfront. Programming for Data Science is $1,017 for 3-month access and courses cost up to $1,436 and $2,154. Udacity has 10 scholarship programs for students.
  • Job Placement: 73% of students who enrolled to advance their career reported a favorable career outcome. Students are hired by top companies such as IBM, Google, AT&T, Amazon, and more. They provide a guarantee for you to have a job within six months of graduation or they will give you 100% of your tuition back.
  • Features: It has programs in Business Analytics, SQL, Data Engineer, Data Analyst, Intro to Programming, Digital Marketing, Self-Driving Car Engineer. As an online program, courses are available 24/7. Students have access to a career resources center.

Altacademy

Altacademy offers coursework in full-stack web development, front-end web development, and back-end web development.

  • Duration: Programs are full-time and part-time. Students can designate less than 10 hours a week and still finish the program. Depending on the program and the student’s pace, it may take 25 to 50 weeks if you spend 5 to 10 hours/week on learning or if going full-time about 12 weeks to complete.
  • Cost: Personalized career path tuition fees are $1670, $1,190, and $1,190. There is financing available.
  • Job Placement: Offer career services that assist with resume review, job placement, and 1-on-1 mentorship office hours. Job placement numbers were not available on their website.
  • Features: As 100% online school, students can access the materials from anywhere in the world at any time. Students can learn at their own pace with their own schedule. It was ranked top 3 online bootcamp 2022 by SwitchUp.

Wild Code School


Founded in 2013, Wild Code School offers programs of study in web development, data analysis, cybersecurity, product management either in-person or online.

  • Duration: Depending on the course, experience level, and how much time dedicated to study, students may complete courses anywhere from 10 hours to 5 months.
  • Cost: Remote learning costs €5,850 for the web-development course whereas in-person in Paris costs €7,200. There are financing and payment plan options available.
  • Job Placement: Boasts an 82% job placement rate.
  • Features: Campuses are located across France and many places in Europe. It offers coursework in French and English. Boasting a 94% certification success rate for students. Some courses do require prerequisites.

Kenzie Academy

Affiliated with Southern New Hampshire University, Kenzie Academy offers online programs that are associated with the Amazon Technical Academy as well as partnered with Western Governors University.

  • Duration: Software Engineering (12 months), UX Design (9 months), and Full-Stack Web Development (9 months) certificate programs.
  • Cost: Depending on the program, costs are Software Engineering ($20,000), UX Design ($12,500), and Full-Stack Web Development ($17,000). There is financing, scholarships, Federal student loan aid, cash/credit options, and deferred payment plans.
  • Job Placement: Boasts a 90 percent job placement rate for graduates, students work with a Career Advisor one-on-one who match students with corporate partners. Kenzie offers a Tuition Refund Guarantee to refund 100 percent of paid tuition if a graduate is not offered a “Qualifying Position” within 180 days of completing their program. Most students make Most make between $55,000 to $90,000 salary in their new jobs.
  • Features: Courses are full-time or part-time online or in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education and offers online coding and tech programs. Beginner coders and international students are welcome.

Coding bootcamps are worth the money, according to leading bootcamp knowledgebase Course Report. More than 80% of bootcamp graduates have a job that requires the skills they learned at coding bootcamp. Yet, not all programs are created equal, as explained in the above section. Fortunately, College Educated can help you choose the right coding bootcamp for your needs. Contact us today to learn more.