There is an amazing 13 percent job growth predicted in the web development sector. Nucamp Coding Bootcamp is mixing up the bootcamp scene with its innovative model designed to fill the industry’s demand.
Nucamp may be new to the game, but the school has set a high bar by offering quality education at a fraction of the average cost, claiming the undisputed title of the most affordable coding bootcamp today.
Although there are a plethora of existing bootcamps on the market, there is still a need for a new model that makes it easy for tech aspirants from various backgrounds to achieve their dreams and not be hindered by factors such as costs, location, and scheduling.
The typical bootcamp models are indeed cheaper than university tuition, which can range from $5,000 to $50,000 per year, according to Times Higher Education 2020. However, they still tend to leave a dent in students’ wallets with an average cost of $13,584.
Considering that some students are taking their first step towards building a career, tuition structures like these can be difficult for newcomers. On top of that, many schools are based in larger cities, leaving scarce opportunities for people in small towns who enjoy thriving in the local scenes.
That’s where Nucamp swoops in and saves the day, offering a fast-tracked beginner course that starts at only $349. It also offers two comprehensive and advanced programs for less than $2,000 each.
The school was established in 2017 and has since garnered rave reviews from graduates and students alike. It even made it to the SwitchUp’s list as Best Bootcamp Winner 2020. Nucamp also receives an average rating of 4.4 stars on Career Karma, which was based on 129 reviews at the time of writing.
“I was looking for content to have in my portfolio that was unique, not just canned challenges and Nucamp allowed me to add my personal touches to each assignment. You get out of it what you put in and collaborating in our class’s dedicated Slack channel was a simulation of real-life peer coding and this was the most valuable part of the course. I liked that the investment was low money and time [sic] only 4 weeks for less than $400,” said Shelly, a recent graduate of Nucamp’s Web Development Fundamentals program.
Another student, Telly Lowe, who enrolled in its Full Stack Development course, said: “Nucamp offered a cohort in Savannah and that was a community I could use locally. The content offered along with the community for the price is what put the icing on top. I really like the structure of the program and seeing progress made each week. It’s a great bootcamp.”
If you’d like to learn more about what spurred the birth of this new-fashioned bootcamp, what it can offer, and how it stands out above the rest, read on further as we delve deeper into the “Nucamp experience.”
Nucamp Origin Story
Nucamp is the brainchild of industry veteran Ludovic Fourrage, who spent 18 years at Microsoft where he led innovation in digital learning. Being a seasoned industry player, Fourrage recognized a strong need for an affordable and accessible coding bootcamp that caters specifically to first-timers, part-timers, underprivileged groups, and job-changers. This, he said, will ensure no talent is left behind as the rest of the world embraces the digital economy.
Soon after Nucamp’s launch in Tacoma, Washington, the team brought on corporate personality Karim El Naggar as co-founder and chief executive officer to help scale the Nucamp model. The duo has since led the team side-by-side in the quest to provide affordable coding bootcamps to every corner of the country.
“When we looked at the coding education landscape, my partner and I were surprised to see offerings that didn’t match the demand. Universities are too expensive for most people, bootcamps are full-time programs and still expensive—even if cheaper than universities—and also only available in big cities. And then finally, the full-time programs really don’t fit what the market is asking for,” Mr. El Naggar said.
Nucamp’s formula to solve these issues is a combination of a community-based model, a strong e-learning platform, and leadership formed through years of expertise. The school offers a new hybrid learning experience where students learn online on weekdays and attend instructor-led in-person or online lessons within their local community on weekends.
The school hopes to increase its number of students by ten-fold this year, from a mere 700 during its soft launch last year.
What Can I Learn at Nucamp?
There are three main courses you can take at Nucamp:
- Web Development Fundamentals (Beginner)
- Front End Web and Mobile Development (Advanced)
- Full Stack Web and Mobile Development (Advanced)
If you are unsure where to begin, the school recommends taking this quiz to determine your level. To have a better understanding of these courses and discover which is a good fit for you, let’s break them down individually:
Web Development Fundamentals (Beginner)
Cost: $349
Duration: 4 weeks
This four-week course will help students build a foundation in the three pillars of the Internet: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This course is perfect for absolute beginners as it will teach you the step-by-step from installing a code editor to mastering the advanced components of JavaScript. By the end of the course, students are expected to complete four different projects such as building an HTML page, games, and even a dating site! All you have to do is bring your own laptop to the workshops and you’re set to code like a pro.
Front End Web and Mobile Development (Advanced)
Cost: $1,372 (or 4 payments of $343)
Duration: 17 weeks
This course will take you from novice to job-ready in just 17 weeks. Prepare to use your creativity and technical skills to build modern web experiences like no other. Over the course duration, you will be expected to complete 12 different projects that demonstrate your proficiency in Bootstrap and React, among others. This course requires between 6 to 14 hours/week of online lectures and exercises, and 4 hours/week of instructor-led workshops and assignments.
Full Stack Web and Mobile Development (Advanced)
Cost: $1,765 (or 5 payments of $353)
Duration: 22 weeks
Stand out as a job applicant with a strong understanding of both the front and back end of the web and mobile development. This 22-week immersive course will teach you how to use the MongoDB database and access it via Node.js, web development with React and React Native, and packaging and compiling with npm, among others. This course requires between 6 to 14 hours/week of online lectures and exercises, and 4 hours/week of instructor-led workshops and assignments.
How Nucamp Stands Out
Nucamp offers one of the most affordable coding bootcamp for under $2,000 while delivering a high-quality curriculum in small classes of 12 students maximum using a unique hybrid evening and weekend format. But that’s not all, below are several other factors that make Nucamp the right avenue for you to launch a rewarding career.
Individualized Support
The weekday lessons at Nucamp involve online self-learning, much like the programs offered by other online learning options in the market such as Udemy, Udacity, Codecademy, edX, or Coursera. Students are expected to dedicate between one to three hours daily on video lectures, coding exercises, quizzes, and challenges, and project portfolios.
However, what sets the school apart from these competitors is the support and focus that can be expected from the instructors, composed of leading industry professionals. Each instructor will lead a group of no more than 12 students weekly, ensuring personalized attention that large classrooms can’t offer.
The weekend sessions last four hours and can alternatively be conducted via videoconferences, depending on the circumstances. To keep costs low while simultaneously giving back to the local community, in-person workshops are typically held at co-working spaces, if not via videoconferences.
Talented Instructors
Nucamp is home to a handful of talented industry professionals—some having previously served the biggest names like Microsoft, Intel, Amazon, and T-Mobile—with a passion for teaching and helping others.
Seeing as Nucamp’s model is community-centric, its instructors are generally local industry experts who are real-life web developers and tech experts themselves. This means that they are able to guide students through technical hurdles more efficiently, based on their own experience.
Additionally, the instructors are able to help bridge the gap between local job demands and supply considering they have existing industry connections and a clear understanding of the current market. This could come in handy in a student’s job-searching process.
Welcoming Policy
On top of that, Nucamp practices a welcoming policy where everyone—regardless of experience, location, economic background, or employment status—can access quality education at a modest rate.
According to Mr. Fourrage: “We trust and respect our students. We do not refuse a student because of their ‘risk profiles’, for instance. We do not block access to our bootcamps because of failed tests. We do not drop students because they have missed a couple of live sessions. Instead, we allow students to retake them at minimal cost ($39 to retake a 5-week module).”
Career Assistance
Exercising honesty and transparency, Nucamp doesn’t just guarantee jobs to its students. Instead, the school furnishes students with career assistance that include a six-week career development program, one-month LinkedIn Premium membership, access to a job-seeker alumni group, Nucamp Job Search Playbook, and personal coaching by local instructors.
ReSkill America Initiatives
Nucamp is offering a $10,000 ReSkill America Scholarship Fund for individuals economically impacted by the Covid-19 and looking to start a new career in tech. Through collaboration with Career Karma and the Kapor Center, students who qualify for the ReSkill America Laptop Initiative will receive a laptop and a scholarship to study at Nucamp.
Where Can I Go After Nucamp?
Upon completing a program at Nucamp, graduates will have the possibility to explore careers as web or mobile app developers, with a focus on front end or full stack development. The best part is that both skill sets are highly sought-after across all industries so you are not limited to only one type of work environment. Let’s delve deeper into each of these opportunities:
Front End Developer
Average pay: 76,929/year
In essence, a front end developer is tasked with implementing visual and interactive elements that users see when using a web or a mobile app. These are achieved using primarily HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Most times, such developers are also expected to familiarize themselves with Git and Github. With Nucamp’s program, you’ll be equipped with the skills to build products and services such as client websites, email templates, dynamic apps, and cross-browser sites, among others.
Full Stack Developer
Average pay: $105,813/year
Full stack development refers to creating the front and back end of a website or app. Some of the daily tasks may include maintaining a company’s online presence, collaborating with engineers to support infrastructure, producing a top-notch user interface, and ensuring that the system doesn’t collapse. Nucamp’s program will teach you how to achieve all these and more with its comprehensive, industry-standard curriculum.
Will I Get A Job After Nucamp?
According to the school, Nucamp’s programs prepare students with the skills needed for junior-level web developer roles in small to mid-sized companies, adding that 78% of its full-stack students have a job when they finish their bootcamp.
As with any other career tracks, this serves as a good starting point for further growth and development. The school said that its flexible and affordable programs provide students with the freedom to test the waters before diving headfirst into the industry. This means you can still back out—without losing too much in investment—if a role in web development turns out to be a wrong fit for you.
Conclusion
Nucamp is here to transform the learning industry with its innovative approach combining a community-based model and an e-learning platform. With its unique and highly affordable model, Nucamp is a fantastic stepping stone for part-time learners, career shifters, and tech aspirants of all backgrounds to get into a rewarding career in tech.
If you’re interested to learn more, head on over to Nucamp’s website, click “interested” on a bootcamp and wait for an Advisor to reach out and offer to meet.
About us: Career Karma is a platform designed to help job seekers find, research, and connect with job training programs to advance their careers. Learn about the CK publication.
