Launch Academy Announces Strategic Pause in Immersive Bootcamp Enrollment

After careful consideration, we have decided to temporarily pause enrollment in the interest of our future students. This decision comes after 11 years of successfully launching careers in technology for over 1,200 students.

We recently celebrated another year of launching careers with Launch Academy. May 1st, 2013 will always define itself as a life changing moment for me. The launch of our first cohort was the start of something special. I've been blessed to not only have had an impact on so many careers, but to also call many of our students friends as they've advanced in the industry I love so dearly.

In order for bootcamps to work, they have to deliver what's called the whole product. Our education and career preparation is only a portion of the value proposition. Our curriculum has to connect with market demand in the form of placement rates. If graduates don't find jobs, regardless of program quality, a bootcamp isn't delivering the whole product.

Throughout our history, we held pride in our stellar placement rates. For 10 years, we typically yielded an 80% or better placement rate, often placing 100% of our graduates. These results were verified and audited as part of our participation in CIRR. The value proposition was clear: study with us, work hard, and the odds were in your favor that you would find your first role in technology.

We believe the value proposition of bootcamps goes beyond the curriculum itself. It hinges on the ability to translate that education into concrete job opportunities. Unfortunately, the current market climate threatens that connection.

A Shift in the Market

As new entrants pervaded the market, hiring managers became increasingly discerning. Established, for-profit educational institutions had taken notice of our strong value proposition, and we started to see a trend of programs speculatively filling classes without regard to the whole product. Bootcamp graduate quality started to decline, and we were faced with the need to significantly differentiate our alumni.

The tech industry is a dynamic landscape, and Launch Academy has always adapted to its changes. We've weathered increased competition, market consolidation, and even a global pandemic. Through it all, our focus remained unwavering: ensuring our graduates were well-equipped to enter the workforce and thrive.

However, recent trends present a more complex challenge. The influx of new bootcamp programs, coupled with an increase in experienced developers seeking new opportunities due to layoffs and hiring freezes, has created a saturated market. Hiring managers are becoming more discerning, and unfortunately, some have developed negative experiences with bootcamp graduates from other programs, which impacts how they view all bootcamp graduates, regardless of program quality.

While our graduates are of high caliber, there is a difficult cognitive leap for hiring managers to overcome when comparing our entry-level graduates with established engineers affected by recent layoffs. With such an ample supply of the latter, it leaves the former at a strategic disadvantage. Even with the best available preparation, there is no substitute for work experience.

A Shift in Value Proposition

These developments have caused a fundamental shift in the bootcamp value proposition, and it saddens me to share that the odds are no longer in favor of a bootcamp graduate. With so much seniority in the job market, it's difficult even for the strongest of graduates to find a job. With hard work and intentional effort, it's still possible, but market-wide placement rates are starting to dip below 50%.

Despite this market downturn and adverse hiring environment, larger competitors still continue to speculatively fill cohorts. Make no mistake, bootcamps survive on tuition dollars, and without students, there is no revenue. With no revenue, there is no business. They will continue to enroll students regardless of market outlook, and we think that's not in the best interest of the bootcamp student.

Most programs are not diversified, meaning their exclusive source of revenue is tuition dollars. Foreseeing the approaching downturn, Launch Academy increased its energy towards diversification, and added private training and consulting services as new ways for the Launch mission to persist. These avenues have been able to support the school throughout the economic shifts, and we intend for it to continue keeping the Launch mission alive while the code school takes a pause.

Given our commitment to outcomes, we are pausing code school enrollment until the market improves, and the whole product can be a reasonable certainty for our graduates. We feel doing anything else would be destructive to our mission: changing lives with software. We will be back when we can confidently deliver the whole product. So we won’t say “goodbye”. Instead, we’ll say “see you later”!

A Commitment to Our Alumni

While enrollment is paused, Launch Academy remains dedicated to our existing students and alumni. We will continue to provide comprehensive postgraduate support through our curriculum and dedicated Slack channel. These resources are designed to help graduates navigate the job market and secure their dream careers.

Furthermore, our vibrant alumni network remains a cornerstone of Launch Academy. We will continue to invest in fostering connections and building a strong community within this network, ensuring our alumni have a supportive space to grow and thrive.

The Future of Launch Academy

Launch Academy has a proven track record of adapting and evolving alongside the tech industry. We have no doubt the market will adjust, and we look forward to bringing back the immersive bootcamp program when the time is right.

In the meantime, Launch Academy remains dedicated to the world of software development. We'll continue building great software, offering private training and consulting services (through our sister company LaunchWare ), and exploring innovative ways to help aspiring developers achieve their goals. We are exploring new specific skills-based continuing education options to help both our alumni and other software developers continue to upskill and advance in their careers.

We encourage you to stay connected. In addition to periodic updates about our ongoing endeavors and new course options, we will also continue to share software engineering-related educational content and tips for software developers here on our LinkedIn page Launch Academy, Inc .

A Final Word

While this decision may seem like a step back, it's ultimately a strategic pause that allows us to remain true to our core mission: changing lives with software. We believe in the power of education to transform careers, and we look forward to the day when we can once again offer the immersive program that has empowered so many.