Coding Bootcamp vs. Computer Science Degree

We’ve all read stories about the difficulties facing millennials in today’s changing job market. Against this backdrop of news coverage, the following statistic is especially astounding: each year there are nearly nine times more open computing positions (Source 1) than their are newly graduated Computer Science majors to fill them. Jobs in the computing field are growing at pace nearly three times the national average (Source 2). This is happening at a time when 44% of millenials are chronically underemployed (Source 3). Something doesn’t add up. What is keeping people from snatching up all these well-paying jobs in a growing and exciting field? The issue at hand isn’t a lack of willing applicants. Rather, it’s a lack of feasible education options. For their part, college and university Computer Science departments are doing their best to grow with the market. Enrollment has skyrocketed (Source 4) over the last decade and the curriculum has changed to reflect the modern workplace. However two major factors put a cap on the ability of Academia alone to fill this nine-fold employment gap. Firstly, higher ed institutions can only accept so many students each year, and so naturally not every applicant will get in. Secondly, CS has one of the highest dropout rates of any major. But we can’t rely on colleges and universities alone to correct this imbalance. For those looking to change their career later in life, a career in coding or development may seem impossible because the traditional path towards them is inaccessible. After the college age-group, most people already have student debt and/or serious financial or familial obligations that make it extremely difficult if not impossible to attend a four-year degree program in Computer Science. By offering an alternative education model for an in-demand career field, coding bootcamps promise to be part of the solution. With a curriculum that is rigorous and accelerated and a tuition model that is flexible and affordable, bootcamps like The Tech Academy are making tech industry careers possible to driven, aspiring developers from all walks of life. A faster, cheaper model of career training is understandably the better fit for those who aren’t capable or willing to pursue and pay for a (possibly second) four-year-degree. In being more welcoming to differing life circumstances, bootcamps are also proving to inject the tech industry with some much needed diversity. As the above infographic from WhatsTheHost (https://www.whatsthehost.com/coding-bootcamp-vs-cs-degree/) shows, the average coding bootcamp grad comes from a very different background than the average Computer Science major. Different life situations call for different choices. Check out some of the most noteworthy differences in the infographic above that an aspiring programmer should consider when deciding between a coding bootcamp education and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science! Sources · Source 1: https://qz.com/929275/you-probably-should-have-majored-in-computer-science/ · Source 2: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/computer-and-information-research-scientists.htm · Source 3: https://www.forbes.com/sites/payout/2017/07/21/the-underemployment-phenomenon-no-one-is-talking-about/#1680eecf5a01 · Source 4: https://www.nap.edu/read/24926/chapter/1