Now that you’re ready to become a developer, you may be wondering if coding bootcamps are worth it. It’s important to make the right choice for your education. While there are different means like college degrees and self-taught tracks, coding bootcamps are continuing to grow in popularity.
When you enroll in an online coding bootcamp, you learn all of the necessary development skills within a short period. Coding bootcamps don’t only shorten the learning curve, they give you the professional development skills you need on a budget.
In this guide, you will learn why coding bootcamps are worth it, what makes them better than college degrees, and how you can get started now. Let’s get into it!
What is a Coding Bootcamp?
Coding bootcamps are online programs designed to be a faster, more flexible and affordable solution to becoming a tech professional compared to college degrees. They are in-depth, interactive training created to help you become a proficient developer in your field.
Coding bootcamps last 16.5 weeks on average. That’s only a little over four months. That’s a wide gap compared to a college degree duration which is 13 times a bootcamp’s duration of 224 weeks (4.3 years) on average.
A coding bootcamp takes you from having no knowledge of programming to being an expert in a very short period and without breaking the bank.
Treehouse designed coding bootcamps called Techdegrees. Treehouse Techdegrees are a guided curriculum of video courses, with the goal of teaching you the skills you need to become a proficient developer in your preferred field of study and providing certification for it. These Techdegrees train you to become skilled and ready for your dream job.
There are five Techdegrees that Treehouse offers to help you become a proficient developer. These are:
- Front-End Development: This program teaches you how to develop sleek and responsive user interfaces (UI) for websites and apps. You get certification as a front-end developer who is skilled in HTML, CSS, and Javascript.
- Full Stack Javascript: This trains you how to create fully functional websites and web apps from scratch using JavaScript. You develop skills in developing client-side (front-end) and server-side (back-end) of websites. It certifies you as a full-stack developer.
- UX Design: This Techdegree program teaches you how to build websites and apps with seamless user experiences (UX). It certifies you as a user research and website design professional.
- Python Development: This program trains you in the development of basic command lines and software apps using Python and you become a certified Python developer.
- Data Analysis: This Treehouse bootcamp certifies you as a data analyst who knows how to collect, analyze and interpret data from spreadsheets, Python code, and database systems.
Below are the durations for Treehouse Techdegrees after analyzing the learning pattern of our Techdegree students. If you study for 3 hours every day, you will finish the:
- Front-End Development Techdegree in four months
- Full-Stack Javascript Techdegree in five months
- UX Design Techdegree in three months
- Python Development Techdegree in two months
- Data Analysis Techdegree in four months.
Pros & Cons of Online Bootcamps
Learning online to code is worth it if it’s guided. And this is what bootcamps are — guided training for developers.
However, it’s essential to talk about its advantages and disadvantages. Below is a list of the pros and cons of coding bootcamps:
| Pros | Cons |
| They are more than 13 times cheaper than a college degree You can become a professional developer in six months or lessYou can learn at your pace. Whether you want to dedicate every day to learning or part-time if you have side hustles to juggle, do soYou can take breaks on days you’re not ready to learn (only applicable to online self-paced bootcamps).You can recap teachings for as long as you need. All you need to access them is a username and passwordYou can learn from anywhere you are in the worldYou get access to staff and students in one place. | The human-to-human connection is less compared to an in-person college degree program. However, Treehouse simulates this experience by offering a Slack channel to Techdegree students, along with a community forum for all Treehouse users to ask questions and discuss. |
Is a Coding Bootcamp Better Than a Degree?
Both coding bootcamps and college degrees help developers become professionals, but choosing which is better for you may depend on a variety of factors.
Let’s differentiate them based on:
- Duration
- Cost
- Salary & Career Advancements
Duration
Coding bootcamp shortens the learning time you need to become a professional in your field.
It takes 4.33 years — that is, 224 weeks on average to complete a Computer Science degree. Some people spend up to five or six years in some schools. However, online coding bootcamp takes about 16.5 weeks on average. But, they can range from as short as two weeks to over six months.
When it comes to the duration, you can learn the necessary development skills in a fraction of the time, so you can kickstart your career quickly.
Cost
Coding bootcamps are an affordable learning option to become a professional developer without spending a fortune.
College Tuition Compare found that the average cost of a computer science college degree is anywhere from $7,073 to $10,690 for in-state students and $21,066 to $25,947 for out-of-state students per year.
This means, the average cost of attending a computer science degree is $38,457 to $101,783 on average.
While a Treehouse Techdegree only costs $199 per month. So, even if you decide to commit only a few hours daily to a Techdegree, you’ll pay $995 on average.
That is, the cost of a college degree is over 40 to 100 times more than a coding bootcamp. In summary, the cost of investing in an online coding bootcamp is more affordable than taking a college degree.
Salary & Career Advancements
Although reports show that coding bootcamp graduates earn an average salary of $69,079 per year, and college degree grads get 89,000 per year on average, there are other factors that can affect these numbers apart from education or certification.
Anyone — coding bootcamp or college grad — can get a higher or lower pay depending on factors like skills, portfolio, location, experience level, company’s budget, and bargaining power.
Best Colleges found that it takes six months on average for bootcamp graduates to find jobs. So, the average duration and job-searching period roughly equals one year. If you take out this period from the duration of a college degree, it means that you have 3.33 years to potentially make money.
If a coding bootcamp graduate gets $69,079 after learning to become a developer in only months, you can make up to $230,033 within the period it takes a degree colleague to finish.
Is a Coding Bootcamp Enough to Get a Job?
Yes, you can add your coding bootcamp education and certification to your resume and land a job.
When it comes to getting job opportunities, coding bootcamp graduates are eligible for tech jobs that most college degree grads have access to.
Companies are looking for skilled professionals, and recruiters are more interested in your skills, portfolio, and experience than your education type. This means you can be a developer without a degree and still land your dream job.
For instance, Treehouse Techdegree programs are designed to put you in a job-ready position. It trains you in both the hard and soft skills that potential employers look for when hiring.
These Techdegree ensure that you’re fit for your dream job by:
- Teaching you the required development skills you need for your target role
- Giving you coding assessments and quizzes to upskill
- Assigning you real-life projects to build your portfolio
- Allowing peer-to-peer review for more thorough corrections
- Promoting collaborations and networking for job ops through Slack group
- Providing job advice in the community forums
- Certifying you in your preferred field of study
This is why Treehouse students have been able to land jobs in giant companies like Adobe, Nike, Airbnb, Mailchimp, HubSpot, and Verizon amongst others after taking our bootcamp programs.
Treehouse Student Reviews
Treehouse’s mission is to make tech education accessible to help aspiring and beginner developers achieve their dreams.
Our students have landed jobs at several respected companies. Here’s what some of them are saying about Treehouse.
Read more Treehouse success stories here.
Get Started With the Treehouse Tech Degree
Coding bootcamps are a shortcut to your tech career destination and are totally worth it. And from our guide above, you can see how investing in a coding bootcamp will help you achieve your career goals while saving you time and money.
Whether you want to start a career as a website developer — front-end, back-end, or full-stack, software developer, or other fields of tech, coding bootcamps are great learning platforms to invest in.
Treehouse has bootcamp certification programs designed to train you to become a professional in your chosen field of study quickly.
Ready to kickstart your tech career? Get started with a Treehouse Techdegree for free.