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Holberton School bootcamp accused of fraud

4 pointsby jumpingdeepsover 5 years ago

1 comment

yr1337over 5 years ago
I&#x27;ve been following this bootcamp from the start because I graduated from the same tech school as one of the founders (Epitech). That school has heavily influenced the Holberton concept (not the ISA part though). While I&#x27;m not 100% on board with calling this a fraud yet (I don&#x27;t feel that there was an intent to defraud students), I can see a bunch of issues with the ISA:<p>- Cost is prohibitive for a coding bootcamp run by its own students based on free online material. Not that I&#x27;m against the concept of participative learning, but by nature this should keep the costs low. Assuming a $100k annual salary (low by SF software dev standards), the bootcamp is a whopping 60K.<p>- Backed by VCs. This is the single biggest issue and what drives the insane cost. VCs want a big return on investment.<p>- Not a real solution to the student loan debt issue. Students have to repay a huge sum of money over a long period of time. That there are no banks or interests involved doesn&#x27;t change the bottom line. I suppose that if you never get a job again in your life you&#x27;re better off than a loan.<p>Overall there is still value in the bootcamp appearing to provide a path to some of the most recognized tech companies in California. I don&#x27;t know if you&#x27;d have better success in getting hired than a comparable candidate from a community college.