2015 Rise of the Bootcamp Model

Overview

While “coding bootcamps” initially focused narrowly on web and mobile development, the bootcamp model has expanded to other digital skills like Data Science, UX/UI Design, Sales, Product Marketing, and Digital Marketing. This category of bootcamps will graduate over 2,800 students in 2015.

Wondering where to start? Check out our Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Coding Bootcamp!

Key Findings

In the first market sizing study of this category, Course Report found:

• In 2015, the Data Science, UX/UI Design, Sales, Product Management, and Digital Marketing Bootcamp market will grow to an estimated 2,866 graduates in 2015, up from 1,255 in 2014.
• As a point of comparison, we estimate 16,056 graduates from Web & Mobile Development Bootcamps in 2015.
• Average tuition price of qualifying courses is $12,585, with an average program length of 13 weeks.
• We estimate that tuition revenue from qualifying US/CA schools will be $31.5M in 2015 (up from $13M in 2014), excluding scholarships.
• UX/UI Bootcamps are the most common of this bootcamp category. UX/UI is taught in 57% of courses, followed by Data Science with 20% of courses.

Results

Market Size

After surveying school representatives from the 15 qualifying US/Canada-based bootcamps, Course Report estimates a 128% growth rate for the Data Science, UX/UI Design, Sales, Product Marketing, and Digital Marketing bootcamp market in 2015.

Among the respondents, 3 schools reported no graduates in 2014. Those schools expect to graduate 75 students in 2015. Among the schools operating in 2014, all schools expect to grow.

Tuition

Tuition ranges from $6,500 to $21,000 for a course, with an average tuition of $12,585. Courses range from 8 to 24 weeks, but most courses are in the 10-13 week range with an average of 13 weeks. Our study focuses on full-time programs, where students typically commit at least 40 hours per week, between classroom and programming time.

Based on our estimate of 2,866 students in 2015, we estimate tuition revenue at $31.5M in 2015, excluding rebates and scholarships. Some schools also collect placement fees from employers for students accepting full-time jobs after graduation. Many schools offer job-placement rebates, ranging from a few thousand dollars to the entire tuition. Typically, rebates are offered to students who receive a qualifying job through the school’s job placement program.

Location

As of November 1, 2015, there are Data Science, UX/UI Design, Sales, Product Marketing, and Digital Marketing bootcamps in 17 US and Canadian cities.

Subjects

As the bootcamp model has been applied to new fields, UX/UI Design has emerged as the most popular new subject, accounting for 57% of graduates, followed by Data Science bootcamps with 20% of graduates. Product Management and Marketing bootcamps each account for 9% of graduates, and Sales bootcamps account for 6%. More information about these digital skills is included below.

UX/UI Design

While User Experience Design (UX) and User Interface Design (UI) are separate fields and roles, they are often taught together. UI and UX refer to the visual components, interactions and experience when using a product. UX/UI Bootcamps teach skills like user research, interaction design, prototyping, wireframing, and testing.

UX/UI Design bootcamps account for 57% of graduates in this category. There are UX/UI Design bootcamps in cities like New York, Chicago, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles.

Data Science

Data Scientists manipulate and explore big data from multiple sources to solve complex business challenges. Whereas a traditional coding bootcamp generally requires little to no programming background in students, data science bootcamps often require some knowledge of a programming language like Python or R.

In the category of Data Science training programs, we recognize a distinction between Data Science fellowships and Data Science bootcamps. Data Science Bootcamps follow the traditional immersive bootcamp model. These are generally three-month, intensive, full-time programs in which most students have some programming experience, but a PhD is generally not required. 

Data Science Fellowships are generally 6-8 week programs intended for PhD students/grads looking to transition out of academia and into a corporate environment. They are generally free to the student (some even offer a stipend) and these bootcamps generate revenue through placement fees with partner companies. Insight Data Science and The Data Incubator are two examples of these fellowships. Fellowships were not included in this market sizing. According to Insight’s White Paper, there are “400 Insight Fellows working as data scientists and engineers across the United States.”

Data Science bootcamps account for 20% of graduates in this category. There are Data Science Bootcamps in cities like New York, Toronto, San Francisco, and Denver.

Product Management

Product Management bootcamps like General Assembly teach skills that include building an MVP, technical project management (e.g., Agile & SCRUM), user-centered design, and team communication.

Product Management bootcamps account for 9% of graduates in this category and there are Product Management bootcamps in cities like Seattle, Boston, and New York.

Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing bootcamps like Startup Institute teach skills that include performance and content marketing with a focus on generating actionable insights from data analytics.

Digital Marketing bootcamps account for 9% of graduates in this category.

Sales

Sales bootcamps like Tradecraft teach skills that include Customer Development, Business Operations, Pipeline Management, Deal Crafting, and Business Theory.

Sales bootcamps account for 6% of the graduates in this category.

Participating Schools

Participating Schools

The following 15 bootcamps participated in this year's report:

Missing from 2015 Study:

Insight Data Science & Data Incubator (these are both Fellowships)

About Course Report

Course Report, founded in 2013 by Adam Lovallo and Liz Eggleston, 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.

Methodology

Methodology

In Course Report’s first annual research into Data Science, UX/UI Design, Sales, Product Marketing, and Digital Marketing bootcamps, we surveyed a total of 15 US/Canada-based schools, commonly referred to as “bootcamps” or “accelerated learning programs.” Of the 15 schools surveyed, which had to meet the set of criteria described below, 13 completed the survey, for a response rate of 87 percent. The surveys were sent to school representatives and graduation figures are self-reported by the respondents.

Criteria. 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) be non-degree granting, (c) provide curriculum with a focus in Data Science, UX/UI Design, Product Management, Sales/Business Development or Marketing/Growth, and (d) be based in the United States or Canada. Many schools offer courses at multiple campuses across a wide range of curriculum. Respondents were asked to only report on courses meeting the above criteria (full-time, in-person, non-accredited, programming-specific, United States/Canada).

2015 forecast. All but two respondents reported the number of students who graduated in 2014. All but one of the respondents provided estimates of their expected, 2015 graduate total.

Course analysis. In addition to survey responses, we utilized the Course Report database of individual course sections to identify a sample of 30 courses (used in Table 2 and Table 3). To qualify for our sample, the course needed to meet all of the above criteria and have a start date in 2015.