Communications of the ACM
Why Students Are Throwing Tons of Money at a Program That Won't Give Them a College Degree
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Computer-coding "boot camps" are surging in popularity, leading to an explosion of technology job applicants who graduate from such programs. The catch is these non-accredited and little-regulated programs do not offer a college degree in computer science, so graduates who invest a lot of money in such courses are often denied the high-paying positions such boot camps promise. Colleges and universities are now partnering with these for-profit outfits or launching their own accelerated coding workshops for students, but tech recruiters are concerned about this trend. "A lot of the people that may get coerced into signing up for these boot camps may end up with a lot of debt and not a lot of job offers," warns recruiter Dave Fecak.
Driving the boot-camp trend is an abundance of market demand for skilled tech workers, but while typical computer science degrees emphasize theoretical programming principles as well as coding, boot camps exclusively concentrate on programming. "You emerge from a boot camp fit to do an oil change, but not design a car," says Monetate's Brian O'Neill.
Some experts see advantages to the boot camps, such as their adaptability to industry trends and their tendency to focus on skills rather than theory. However, critics are worried boot-camp graduates may lack the basics to acquire new tool and skill sets that are necessary to have an evolving career.
From The Washington Post
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