How to Make Coding Bootcamps Accessible

The opportunity to transition into a career as a web developer, mobile developer, or designer should not be limited to folks who can:

a) afford to quit their jobs

b) move to another city

c) spend another 2–3 months job hunting without income

This is the Internet, and we can do anything. Including deliver a world-class programmer training program to anyone with a decent laptop and a high speed connection.

It’s cool that there are now nearly 100 in-person, bricks-and-mortar coding bootcamps in the US. Software is eating the world and bootcamps certainly help fill the skills gap. But with bricks-and-mortar constraints, in-person bootcamps can serve just a thimble-full of the demand. The hidden costs make in-person bootcamps prohibitive for most folks who aspire to a career of coding. Even if another hundred “experts” rent an office space, make a powerpoint, call it a bootcamp and promise you a new job in 8 weeks, they are still not accessible to most (I’ll get to the downward pull on quality in another post).

As a counterpoint, check out this image map — it’s the geographic distribution of recent Bloc students and mentors. They are everywhere!

This is exciting! Students getting job-ready as web developers in far-flung locales and dozens of countries around the world. Just as cool, since the programs are entirely online, students they can distribute their coursework over a flexible, part-time schedule — so they can keep their job and earn while they learn. And Bloc can hire the best mentors because mentors accept only as many students as their schedules permit… with no commute.

If you are a curious about this new world of coding bootcamps, remember the profound limitations inherent in clinging to the traditional classroom format, with inaccessibility at the top of the list.

And to the budding programmer in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia — carry on and hack the planet.