Making a career change or advancing in your current one can be challenging, especially in rapidly evolving technology fields.
However, online coding boot camps can help learners gain the necessary skills to transition into thriving tech jobs while carving their own path in areas like software engineering, data science and UX/UI design, experts say.
“The pace of innovation in the tech industry requires anyone with a legitimate interest in the field to become skilled or upskilled in these specialist areas sooner rather than later,” Riaz Moola, CEO and founder of HyperionDev, a tech education provider that partners with universities worldwide, wrote in an email. “AI innovation and tech disruption will only continue at an aggressive pace.”
Here are seven factors to consider before enrolling in an online coding boot camp.
1. Coding Boot Camps Have Evolved
Coding boot camps have grown in recent years to better meet the needs of students.
“The pandemic kind of shifted us all really toward an online learning environment, so boot camps have really adapted their curriculum to deliver remote instruction now,” says Aletra Cobbs, vice president and head of global admissions at General Assembly, a training provider that helps graduates launch tech careers.
Additionally, Cobbs has noticed that programs have more flexibility in payment plans and various pacing options.
More boot camps are focusing on the core fundamentals of computing and computer science, says Erik Gross, co-founder of The Tech Academy, a coding boot camp provider that emphasizes career readiness.
“Change is a constant in tech,” he says. “Even though you may never work on the physical hardware, if you don’t know what (a computer) is and how it works, then as this inevitable, rapid pace of change in tech continues and even accelerates, you can be left behind pretty easily.”
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2. Boot Camp vs. Bachelor’s Degree
A coding boot camp may be a better fit for some students than an online degree program. However, ensure that the program has a curriculum that is up to date with the languages and frameworks that companies are looking for, such as Python, Java and Javascript, experts say.
“While computer science degrees still carry a certain prestige and a broader foundational reputation, many employers now see coding boot camp graduates as competent, capable and ready to contribute, especially when they can demonstrate practical skills through projects and work samples,” Moola says.
According to a 2025 report from Coursera, 85% of employers are more likely to hire a candidate who has a microcredential than one without.
Employers increasingly “care more about what candidates can do and not how they learned it,” says Liz Eggleston, co-founder of Course Report, an online resource and review platform that helps prospective students evaluate boot camp options.
3. Learn at Your Own Pace
Coding boot camps offer a variety of full-time and part-time program options, usually with a combination of synchronous and asynchronous learning. Some are fully self-paced.
“Full-time boot camp is ideal for a career-changer who is ready to fully commit … that’s often going to lead you to a quicker outcome,” Eggleston says. “Part-time boot camp is good also for a career-changer, but also maybe for an upskiller or somebody who’s transitioning from a tech-adjacent role … and wants to move to a more technical role.”
To determine the right program fit, Gross suggests candidates do an “honest self-assessment” of their discipline and motivation.
“If you haven’t got a real tremendous amount of self-discipline and ability to put the time away, you’re going to want to look for a program that either utterly takes control of you and your schedule and the pace of learning, or one that has a very high-touch system of caring for their students, because it’s a long haul,” he says.
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4. Find Programs With Strong Support
Look for a program that offers support systems, including career coaching, portfolio development and interview preparation, experts say.
Participating in a coding boot camp is like going to the gym, Cobbs says.
“You start with a coach, you figure out what your strengths and weaknesses are, you set a plan to strengthen your weaknesses.”
5. No Coding Experience Needed
Don’t feel discouraged if you are new to coding; experience is not required to sign up, experts say.
“Most programs will give you some prework to do before you start to do a camp and a lot of boot camps and schools will have prep courses, whether they’re free or really low-cost intro courses,” Eggleston says. “So those are actually great ways to get familiar with the boot camp before you sign up.”
6. Boot Camp Costs Vary
When iselecting the right boot camp, cost is one of many factors to consider.
“Boot camps can range in price depending on length, full time (or) part time, or whether a program is taken with a university partner,” Moola says. For example, a full-time, three-month, online full-stack web developer boot camp with HyperionDev is $4,167 per month — or $7,950 if you pay in advance.
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Many programs often offer a range of payment options, from financing to deferring payment.
“Any decent course of instruction lasting three to eight months or whatever is going to cost you on the order of about $10,000 to $15,000,” Gross says. “But it’s (about) the outcome. Nothing is better at return on investment than the tech industry when you think of it as a trade school.”
7. Career Growth Potential
When it comes time to apply for jobs, Gross says it’s a game of persistence and volume.
“Whatever number of applications you think is a lot, then triple it, and you’re maybe coming close to it,” he says. “You cannot expect an instant response. You’ve got to stick with it and not give up.”
Landing a job with your new coding skills can pay off over time: Boot camp graduates earn $70,698 on average at their first job, which increases to $80,943 at their second job, per Course Report data.
“Some graduates experience significant salary increases, compared to their previous roles, which is lovely,” Cobbs says.
Here are the 30 best online coding boot camps of 2024 — listed alphabetically — according to Course Report:
— Actualize
— App Academy
— Arizona State University Bootcamps
— Avocademy
— BrainStation
— CareerFoundry
— Careerist
— Clarusway
— Codesmith
— Codeworks
— Coding Temple
— Correlation One
— Designlab
— DigitalCrafts
— Flatiron School
— Fullstack Academy
— General Assembly
— Hack Reactor
— Launch School
— LearningFuze
— Le Wagon
— Makers Academy
— Nucamp
— NYC Data Science Academy
— Springboard
— Tech Elevator
— The Tech Academy
— TripleTen
— TrueCoders
— WBS Coding School
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Online Coding Boot Camps: 7 Things To Know originally appeared on usnews.com
