2024 Year in Review: Coding Bootcamp News

Table of Contents

• 2024: Course Report in Numbers
• 2024 in Coding Bootcamps — The TL;DR:
• January: Course Report joins Career.io!
• February: A Rise in AI Skills Training
• March: Skills-Based Hiring at the Federal Level
• April: $34M in Fundraises for Coding Bootcamps
• May: Non-Profit Bootcamps Boosted by Grant Money
• June: Expanding Scholarship Opportunities to Bootcampers
• July: Modernizing Registered Apprenticeships
• August: Bridging the Tech Gap with Tuition-Free Training
• September: Increasing Demand for Cybersecurity Talent
• October: OPM Regulation Shake-Up
• November: VET TEC Passes the House
• December: Wrapping Up 2024
• Our Predictions for 2025

With the introduction of AI, 2024 saw companies and bootcamps working quickly to help workers acquire the needed skill set. Over the course of 2024, Online Program Managers (OPMs) saw major shake-ups with a key OPM’s sudden exit and suggested federal regulation folding. We’re closing 2024 with renewed funding for VET TEC on the horizon, and trends like skills-based hiring becoming more ingrained in the fabric of tech hiring. Plus, we’re sharing our predictions for 2025 — from demand for AI-savvy cybersecurity pros to new tuition options for bootcamps!

2024: Course Report in Numbers

• We added 85 new schools to the Course Report directory – 6 of those in December. 

• You (our readers) applied for over $200,000 in exclusive scholarships on Course Report.

• We matched over 30,000 of you with coding bootcamps via our Get Matched tool.

• We published ~90 new articles on our blog, 9 new podcast episodes (including this one), a bunch of YouTube videos, and even hosted 3 live webinars!

• Over 10,000 of you came to Course Report to leave a review of your bootcamp experience. 

• Le Wagon was the most reviewed school on Course Report with 3,534 reviews!

• Reviews are one of the most important services we offer Course Report readers, and we’ve clarified our policies this year about reviews:

• Schools can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Course Report never suppresses negative reviews.

• While we don't prohibit schools from asking students to leave a review, the FTC released guidance about reviews this year that schools should adhere to – for example, you shouldn’t ask for only positive reviews. 

• As stated in our Review Guidelines, schools are prohibited from leaving a review on behalf of or impersonating a student/alum in a review.

2024 in Coding Bootcamps — The TL;DR:

• There was an increase in skills-based hiring — Federal and state governments announced that they would be lifting degree requirements, legislation was introduced to support skills based hiring, and companies double-downed on meritocracy based hiring in the press. 

• The world went all in on AI/machine learning skills — AI/machine learning skills wasn’t new for bootcamps. Many schools had been teaching the foundations of machine learning, AI, data engineering, and data analytics for many years. Since bootcamps are designed to be flexible and react to employer needs, they were some of the first to add Github Copilot, ChatGPT, and AI models to their curricula. 

• Demand for cybersecurity professionals grew — The cybersecurity field does not have enough cybersecurity professionals to fill every position, so demand for cybersecurity, IT, and networking professionals only grew over 2024. 

January: Course Report joins Career.io!

• Course Report was acquired by Career.io, a comprehensive career companion, in January! 

• The New York Times debuted the term “New Collar workers,” which is defined as skilled workers without degrees. 

• Congress introduced a new bill, the AI Literacy Act, with the aim of providing AI training for children and adults. This would have amended the Digital Equity Act of 2021 but as of December 2024, it has not passed.

• Simplilearn (which acquired Fullstack Academy in 2022) reported 50% YoY revenue growth in 2023. 

• Upgrad was in talks to acquire Udacity for $100M in January, but that deal fell through. Udacity was later acquired by Accenture in May for a rumored $80M.  

February: A Rise in AI Skills Training

• A study from Indeed showed that employees with generative AI skills saw a 50% salary increase, so integrating AI into the workplace began to catch fire at the top of the year.

• The largest coding bootcamp fundraise this month was Ziplines Education, which raised $6.4M in a Series A funding round. 

• The Tech Academy celebrated its tenth anniversary!

• We hosted a Live Q&A on creative ways to pay for a bootcamp with admissions reps from Tech Elevator, Springboard, General Assembly, and Flatiron School.

March: Skills-Based Hiring at the Federal Level

• The Biden administration released an executive order prioritizing apprenticeships in federal hiring. The goal of the order was to promote registered apprenticeships as a way to encourage skills-based hiring. 

• Fast Company highlighted how the nonprofit CodePath helps students from underrepresented groups land well-paying tech roles. 

• Indeed’s Hiring Lab released an interesting jobs report that found that 52% of U.S. job postings on Indeed did not include any educational requirements as of January 2024. 

• Skillshare acquired the startup Superpeer for an undisclosed amount.

April: $34M in Fundraises for Coding Bootcamps

• HyperionDev secured about $5M in April.

• Data skills training platform Modal announced a $25M Series A.

• AI edtech startup PETE raised $2M in seed funding. 

• Upskilling startup NextWork raised $2.3M to build out programming for workers displaced by AI. 

• Raleigh-based bootcamp Momentum closed.

• Women Who Code shuttered, citing a lack of funding sources.

• The House passed the Stronger Workforce for America Act, which aims to update the federal workforce system, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). 

• The U.S. Office of Personnel Management expanded the Pathways Program to include more internships and skills-based hiring at the federal level.

• The House Oversight and Accountability Committee made moves to include federal contractors in its overall shift to a skills-based hiring model.

May: Non-Profit Bootcamps Boosted by Grant Money

• Merit America received a $15.6M grant through the Crankstart Foundation.

• Resilient Coders received a $2.5M donation from Mackenzie Scott.

• Upskill Canada funded the tuition for many students in 2024 who enrolled at bootcamps like BrainStation, Lighthouse Labs, Palette Skills, and Jelly Academy. 

• Level Effect, a cybersecurity bootcamp, announced that graduates of their Cyber Defence Analyst Program could be eligible for 59 credits towards a Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity degree at Purdue University Global. 

• Talent management company PowerToFly acquired the online coding bootcamp Skillcrush. 

June: Expanding Scholarship Opportunities to Bootcampers

• Code Crew received a $1 million grant from the state of Tennessee to enhance its digital skills training program.

• Pluralsight announced $2 million in cash grants to nonprofits like CodePath, LaunchCode, NPower, and Year Up, all dedicated to tech skills training for underrepresented communities.

• Flatiron School announced that it teamed up with Bletchley Institute to offer students and graduates more opportunities for networking, mentorship, and skill development.

• App Academy began a new partnership with HTD Talent to recruit App Academy candidates to HTD’s intensive training and deployment program.

• Through the nonprofit Tech Impact, Tech Elevator offered full tuition scholarships for eligible students in Delaware. 

• Nashville Software School announced new Access Scholarships, providing $2,000 off tuition for students enrolling in their upcoming summer and fall cohorts.

• Claim Academy partnered with Missouri Job Centers to offer free tech training through a grant program for Missouri residents. 

• Chegg Skills (formerly Thinkful) announced that it was restructuring to focus on enterprise training, which meant sunsetting their online bootcamps for individual career changers (you can still enroll through your employer + Guild Education). 

July: Modernizing Registered Apprenticeships

• The White House announced $244 million to modernize and expand the registered apprenticeship system, aiming to create more pathways into tech careers.

• The Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration award $19.5 million to the South Florida ClimateReady Tech Hub. This investment is to support climatetech research, startups, and jobs, with training led by Miami Tech Works, including bootcamps like Ironhack, BrainStation, and 4Geeks Academy.

• edX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a voluntary pre-packaged deal. 

• Coding bootcamps Code Fellows and Rithm School announced they were closing.

• Eleven Fifty Academy rebranded as Blaizing Academy, shifting its focus from coding bootcamps to AI corporate training.

August: Bridging the Tech Gap with Tuition-Free Training

• Technical.ly's Holly Quinn explored the relevance of coding bootcamps in 2024, and highlighted the success of smaller, nonprofit coding programs like Zip Code Wilmington.

• Resilient Coders was bolstered by a grant from MacKenzie Scott, making it the second coding bootcamp this year to receive funding from Yield Giving. 

• The Hechinger Report highlighted the positive impact of non-profit, tuition-free tech training programs like Marcy Lab School in NYC and Hack the Hood in Oakland. 

• Uplimit, an upskilling platform, closed an $11 million Series A round to enhance their AI-powered enterprise training. 

• Upright Education received an undisclosed investment from Rebalance Capital. An

• Wake Tech announced plans to launch a 30-week cybersecurity bootcamp, funded by an $882,000 cooperative agreement from the National Science Foundation.

September: Increasing Demand for Cybersecurity Talent

• The White House announced an initiative to fill 500,000 U.S. cybersecurity jobs, focusing on removing college degree requirements for certain roles and expanding work-based learning through registered apprenticeships. 

• A federal bankruptcy judge approved 2U/edX's Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September. This meant that edX received approval of its restructuring plan and shed $500M in debt. 

• Skills-based hiring and alternative pathways into the workforce was a prime concern for both presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. 

• We hosted a Live Q&A on navigating the tech job search with career experts from General Assembly, Tech Elevator, Springboard, and Flatiron School. 

October: OPM Regulation Shake-Up

• The U.S. Department of Education rescinded its February 2023 guidance that classified OPMs as third-party servicers, altering the regulatory landscape for OPMs like edX. 

• Phil on EdTech noted that OPMs are no longer "on life support," with market demand increasing in 2024 compared to 2023.

• 2U CEO Paul Lallje stepped down, and former Chief Financial Officer Matthew Norden was appointed as the interim CEO. 

• Eruditus, the parent company of Emeritus, secured a $150 million funding round, elevating its valuation to between $3 and $3.5 billion.

• Guild Education acquired Nomadic Learning to establish Guild Academy, which is essentially enterprise training. 

• Simplilearn announced the relocation of its headquarters from San Francisco to Plano, Texas. 

November: VET TEC Passes the House

• The House has passed the Dole Act, which includes provisions for the Veteran Employment Through Technology Education Courses (VET TEC) program.

• QuickStart acquired Promineo Tech for an undisclosed sum. 

• The U.S. Department of Labor awarded the NYC tech training program, Pursuit, a $2 million grant through the Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant Program. This grant will support a new cybersecurity program designed to assist over 200 low-income and underemployed New Yorkers.

• President-elect Donald Trump nominated Linda McMahon as the new education secretary, who supports Pell grants for short-term programs, workforce development, apprenticeships, and short-term certifications. 

December: Wrapping Up 2024

• edX, one of the largest OPMs, shuttered its university boot camps in order to shift focus to micro-credential courses. 

• The Senate passed the Dole Act, which means that VET TEC will most likely be revived next year. 

• The U.S. Department of Labor withdrew its proposal to update the registered apprenticeship system. 

• The Observer spoke with Amazon Web Services’ Jenni Troutman about the free AWS training that is training over two million people with A.I. skills by 2025.

• We hosted a Live Q&A focused on making a career change through part-time bootcamps. Our panelists attended Springboard, General Assembly, Tech Elevator, and Careerist, and they shared insights into what it takes to start a tech career in software engineering, cybersecurity and QA testing. 

Our Predictions for 2025

Our 2025 predictions:

1. All of the legislative groundwork laid for skills-based hiring will start to make an impact in the actual hiring rates in 2025. Specifically, we’ll want to see that folks without classic computer science degrees are getting hired for the technical roles that they’re trained and qualified to do. 

2. Demand for cybersecurity professionals will rise in 2025 and bootcamps will rise to the occasion to help meet that need. Especially in a world where AI-generated code is more prevalent, cybersecurity risks will grow alongside that. 

3. Bootcamp students will have an array of ways to pay for a coding bootcamp. With VET TEC, the possibility of Pell grants for short-term programs, and other workforce funding, private loans will no longer be the only way to pay for a bootcamp. 

And if any of our predictions come true, you’ll hear about them in exactly one year when we’re back to wrap up 2025!