Nucamp Launches Industry's First Nationwide Affordable Coding Bootcamp to Make Software Development Careers Accessible to All
Former Microsoft digital learning executive disrupts EdTech with 22-week coding bootcamp for under $2,000 to open more tech jobs to underserved communities
BELLEVUE, Wash., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- As aspiring career-shifters hunger for attractive job opportunities in software development, Nucamp (http://www.nucamp.co) announced today the first nationwide affordable coding bootcamp that finally makes learning to code accessible to anyone. Opening equal access to coding education for the first-time to lower-income and underemployed individuals, Nucamp offers a superior experience for under $2,000, a huge shift from traditional coding bootcamps that typically cost $10,000-$20,000. The company is committed to revolutionizing how people access rewarding careers in software development, without requiring a college degree or expensive education.
Nucamp's part-time, 22-week full stack web and mobile development bootcamps are officially available in 25 cities, big and small, including Seattle, Bellingham, Tacoma, Knoxville, Oakland, Spokane, Baltimore, Detroit and more. The company, which has a 4.7 rating on Course Report and was awarded best bootcamp 2020 by switchup.org, offers a new hybrid learning experience where students learn online during the week, and meet in-person in small groups on weekends within their local community.
Ludo Fourrage, who worked at Microsoft for 18 years leading the development of digital learning, started Nucamp after seeing a significant affordability and accessibility gap with coding bootcamps, especially for those who are underemployed yet working full-time jobs.
"We first opened in Tacoma, Washington, 40 miles south of Seattle. There, I met many aspiring developers showing heart and potential, but who felt left out of the digital economy just because of where they live or their economic status," said Fourrage, Founder and Chief Learning Officer at Nucamp. "This felt unfair, so we committed to making Nucamp affordable and accessible to anyone, not just the privileged few."
Fourrage then brought on Karim El Naggar, an experienced executive leading software businesses at General Electric, as CEO to help scale the Nucamp model and bring the promise of affordable coding bootcamps to every corner of the U.S. Nucamp plans to teach 7,000 students to code in 2020, up from 700 during the company's soft launch in 2019.
Software Development Jobs Growing, But Going Unfilled and Many Left Behind
According to the Software.org BSA Foundation, nearly 1 in 10 American jobs are in the software industry, representing 14.4 million total U.S. jobs. More importantly, software jobs are growing twice as fast as the overall economy with higher desirable wages. Glassdoor's 50 Best Jobs in America for 2020 shows that 6 out of 10 of the top jobs are software related, with over 50,000 software engineer job openings and an average salary of $105,563. However, most software development jobs are unavailable to large segments of the workforce — namely, those who fall into the Low Quality Job Index and those without college degrees, lower incomes, or lacking previous job experience in technology.
While coding bootcamps have aimed to give people access to these higher-wage software jobs, the courses have fallen short because they can be more expensive than college and often require that students take even more expensive loans in the form of income sharing agreements. In addition, students typically have to quit their job to attend full-time programs, and most bootcamps don't exist in smaller suburbs or rural areas.
Nucamp: First-Class Coding Bootcamp Experience at a Lower Cost
Nucamp makes coding bootcamps extremely affordable with a disruptive business model that drives quality at scale, but at a fraction of the cost of traditional bootcamps. The new approach embraces the best of the gig economy to attract instructors with real-world experience. In addition, Nucamp uses co-working office space to decrease real estate costs, and relies on Nucamp's proprietary high-quality curriculum and software platform to deliver a consistent student experience. Convenient evening and weekend courses adapt to students' schedules so they can get the training they need, even while working full-time or parenting. Nucamp's local small group workshops have a maximum of 12 students to allow for individualized instructor support.
According to Aaron Goodrum, a truck driver-turned software quality assurance engineer after graduating from Nucamp's first coding bootcamp in Tacoma, "All the coding bootcamps I found were expensive or couldn't work around my job as a long-haul commercial driver. I was starting to worry about the future of being a truck driver and was spending too much time away from my wife and daughter, so I jumped at the opportunity when I discovered Nucamp. It wasn't just the online classes during the week, but also having the weekly workshops and a dedicated instructor who was available every step of the way which allowed me to keep up with the packed curriculum."
Goodrum eventually signed onto becoming a Nucamp instructor to help more students change careers. Like him, many instructors are full-time software developers and teach with Nucamp in addition to their jobs, to give back to their local community and support Nucamp's social mission. They form a tightly-knit community at the heart of Nucamp's caring culture.
"With more and more demand for software developers and with rising education costs, Nucamp offers an exciting alternative to Americans stuck in jobs that won't sustain their families, or will disappear in the near future," said CEO El Naggar. "Nucamp is re-inventing technical education from the ground-up."
About Nucamp
Nucamp's mission is to help all aspiring career shifters currently left out of the digital economy learn to code. Nucamp offers the industry's only truly affordable 22-week coding bootcamp for under $2,000, and delivers a high-quality curriculum in small classes of 12 maximum students using a unique hybrid evening and weekend format. Our model relies on carefully selected industry professionals who want to share their passion for coding in their local community. With Nucamp, whether you live in a big city, a suburb or a rural area, you can get the coding skills you need without quitting your job, getting into debt, or having to share your future income. For more information, visit http://www.nucamp.co.
SOURCE Nucamp
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