July 2020 Coding Bootcamp News

Table of Contents

• REGULATORY NEWS IN BOOTCAMPS
• ACQUISITIONS & FUNDRAISES
• RESKILLING A WORKFORCE WITH BOOTCAMPS
• THE PANDEMIC JOB SEARCH
• BRIDGING THE TECH GAP
• NEW BOOTCAMPS IN JULY
• NEW SCHOOLS ADDED TO COURSE REPORT
• FAVORITE PIECES ON THE BLOG

This July, there was so much going on in U.S. politics and we saw it trickling into the coding bootcamp sphere. We also continued to see discussions around opening the gates of tech to more diverse, qualified candidates and reskilling initiatives as well as a fascinating new study about the effectiveness of the traditional technical interview. Plus, we dig into all of the recent news about bootcamp acquisitions, a $130MM fundraise, and 13 new coding bootcamps!

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

REGULATORY NEWS IN BOOTCAMPS

• Flexible education seems to be more important than ever these days. Earlier this month, TechCrunch reported that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a new rule that would not allow international students to study in the U.S. if their learning institution moves online. This rule faced immediate backlash and a lawsuit by Harvard and MIT, and the rule was rescinded. 

• As of July 24th, NPR reports that the rule still applies to all newly enrolled international students who were planning to attend school this fall. 

• The White House renewed its support for skills-based education alternatives with the release of a new campaign, Find Something New.

• EdSurge reports that the Find Something New campaign has been criticized as being tone-deaf to those who are unemployed right now due to the pandemic and a recession. Critics say the initiative lacks a way to evaluate the programs that the Find Something New campaign is promoting.

• President Trump signed an executive order directing the government to reduce the minimum education requirements for federal job opportunities, except for positions where such standards are legally mandated. EdSurge reports that this shift of hiring for skills and not just education credentials will increase the qualified applicant pool, but workforce nonprofits and foundations are already unsure how to put this into practice when reviewing non-degree credentials. 

• The New York Times wrote that the pandemic has accelerated demand for a more skilled work force. Steve Lohr writes that even groups who disagree on labor issues do agree that public investment must be made in upskilling our workforce. 

• The Markle Foundation has proposed federally funded “opportunity accounts” of up to $15,000 for workers to spend on training. 

ACQUISITIONS & FUNDRAISES

• Flatiron School has cut ties with WeWork. WeWork sold Flatiron School to Carrick Capital partners for an undisclosed amount.

• Contxto reports that digital skills bootcamp Trybe acquired tech education company Codenation.

• EdSurge listed the bootcamps that have taken advantage of the PPP program in the US, including Kenzie Academy, and bootcamp adjacent companies like Black Girls Code, Girls Who Code, and Khan Academy.

• Revature appointed Amit Sevak as president.

• EdSurge reports that Coursera raised $130 Million in a Series F round led by NEA this month. 

RESKILLING A WORKFORCE WITH BOOTCAMPS

• In EdSurge, Pathstream’s Career Success Strategist Amy Ahearn published a call-to-action about helping people prepare for jobs that exist today, not just jobs of the future.

• Microsoft launched a digital skills initiative to 25 million people worldwide.

• Google announced 100,000 scholarships for its new online certificate programs in data analytics, project management, and user experience design.

• Apple is now offering a free online coding course for educators in order to encourage teachers to teach code in the classroom.

• K12 has partnered with the Virginia Ready Initiative also known as VA Ready. 

• ABC News reports that the San Diego Workforce Partnership is now offering an Income Share Agreement to those interested in taking a certification course in UX Design, Database Management, or Java Programming. 

• TechCrunch highlighted how Strive School now offers European students an Income Share Agreement to make their online digital skills bootcamp more accessible. 

THE PANDEMIC JOB SEARCH

• Are companies hiring bootcamp graduates right now?! Check out our roundup of recent bootcamp alumni who have landed awesome jobs and internships during the pandemic for job search advice, online onboarding tips, and real-time updated lists of all the companies that are hiring right now. 

• TechRepublic combed the internet to create a list of the top 20 work-from-home jobs with salaries over $100,000. 

• TechRepublic also produced this succinct little list of 10 high-paying tech jobs that don’t require a degree. 

• BW Education includes data scientist and data analyst as two of the emerging, most high demand career options right now!

• Glassdoor's analysts said that hiring at big tech companies has stabilized, but that jobs have not come back at small and midsize companies that are still dealing with uncertainty and lost business. 

• Tech Republic announced a virtual job fair hosted by HackerRank to be held September 21-22, 2020.

• The Daily Hive reports that Toronto has been named as a top tech talent hub in North America by the latest CBRE report. 

• Aleksandr Volodarsky, the co-founder and CEO of Lemon.io, recommends that hiring managers do what he calls “the "Falafel Test," an informal, half-hour meeting between a recruiter and a job applicant where code is not discussed. 

• A recent study from North Carolina University and Microsoft found that technical interviews exclude qualified candidates from the hiring pool. 

• For those just getting started in their new tech job, TechShout wrote an article about the software development habits you should work on. 

• Forbes points out that COBOL is still heavily relied on in the financial and government sectors, so it’s worth learning!

BRIDGING THE TECH GAP

• Check out our roundup of coding bootcamp scholarships and diversity in tech initiatives and resources!

• Computer Weekly looked at the European tech market and found the same a lack of diversity across lines of race, ethnicity, gender and class as in the U.S. This article says that bootcamps (because of their relative affordability when compared with traditional computer science degrees) open tech up to a wider section of the population. 

• Business Insider reports that Twitter is dropping coding terms like 'master' and 'slave' after 2 engineers led an internal effort to press for change.  

• The South Philly Review highlighted Tech Elevator’s new $1Million “Represent Tech” scholarship program, which was created to support historically underrepresented groups in tech. 

• Technically DC reports that 2U is awarding scholarships of $2,500 to Black, Latinx and Indigenous learners, as well as women, that demonstrate both need and merit. These scholarships can be applied to over 100 online bootcamps.

• Listen to This Is Uncomfortable’s episode “The Fight for Fair Pay in Big Tech” to hear one woman of color’s experience working at big tech companies in Silicon Valley. 

NEW BOOTCAMPS IN JULY

• Ohio State University has partnered with Trilogy Education to offer an online coding bootcamp. 

• DigitalCrafts is now offering a coding bootcamp in Seattle in partnership with Western Washington University.  

• Denver Post reports that Arapahoe Community College has partnered with coding bootcamp Promineo Tech to offer back end and front end software development courses.

NEW SCHOOLS ADDED TO COURSE REPORT

In July, we added 13 new schools to our Course Report school listings:

• Level Effect 

• Somerville Academy

• Pipeline Data Engineering Academy 

• CodeBound 

• CodeX Academy

• Ohio State University Coding Bootcamp (powered by Trilogy Education)

• Arapahoe Community College Bootcamps (powered by Promineo Tech)

• Estrella Mountain Community College Coding Bootcamp (powered by Promineo Tech)

• Scottsdale Community College Coding Bootcamp (powered by Promineo Tech)

• GateWay Community College Coding Bootcamp (powered by Promineo Tech)

• John Tyler & Reynolds Community Colleges Coding Bootcamp (powered by Promineo Tech)

• Sierra College Coding Bootcamp (powered by Promineo Tech)

• Southeast Community College Coding Bootcamp (powered by Promineo Tech)

FAVORITE PIECES ON THE BLOG

Jess’s favorite piece this month was her interview with U.S. Army vet and Sabio alum Isaac about his remote bootcamp experience. Isaac used VET TEC to completely cover his bootcamp tuition, and now works as a remote developer.

Liz’s favorite project in July was creating a beginner’s guide to Tableau with General Assembly distinguished faculty member, Craig Fryar.