The other issue is that bootcamps can collect that money even if they provide no value. Say a student gets nothing out of the bootcamp, and spends the next three years on rigorous self-study.
The only upside for students is if the bootcamp fails, and they totally give up on a career in programming. If you have an ISA hanging over your head that might cost you upwards of $30k, I’d say it’s more likely you’ll give up than if you blew $7k up-front.
the "other issue" is not true of the ones I've seen. most ISAs have an expiration date far shorter than 3 years. the ones in SF I've seen are 1 year.
the "catch" that most people don't talk about with ISAs is that you have to actively job hunt and the school with hold you accountable for that e.g. submitting an minimum number of applications a week, going to networking events, reaching out to recruiters, etc., and if you fail to meet a minimum weekly threshold then you could trigger repayment. that is a big motivation to keep trying to get that first job.
"In the meantime, Lambda shifts the equation: For about half of the ISAs, the company sells the rights to a portion of its returns to investors; in return, it gets cash up front."
You can even see a "Sample Offering" for Lambda School on Edly, a marketplace for reselling ISAs: https://edly.info/investors/
If they hold the ISA and the student doesn’t make any money they don’t make any money. If they sell the ISA and their students don’t make any money soon they won’t be able to sell them and then they don’t make any money.
The only way I see this impacting student outcome is if the school loses motivation to help students post-graduation, but the discount for selling these ISAs must be very high.
Lambda School is still on the hook and loses money until the students are placed and have paid back. It’s about incentive alignment.
I've had a few email exchanges with California' Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education. They fall under the Department of Consumer Affairs, and they were put in place due to California's problems with diploma mills.
The BPPE told me that because Lambda School is operating illegally, if a student has an issue with your company, it's impossible for the BPPE to do anything. Would you agree students should know about this risk, since many of them are likely in a position where they can't afford legal representation?
There’s a lot happening behind the scenes we can’t talk about publicly just yet, but hopefully soon!
Is what the BPPE saying incorrect? If it is correct, don't you think students should know about this?
Austen has zero intention of answering you!
If you could please stop bothering him with your plebeian concerns, that'd be great!
I'm in a unique situation where I've been in tech in non-eng roles for a number of years and did it more for the mental model rather than becoming a full time engineer so did not do the ISA and rather paid up front, but just off the top of my head most people have found jobs by now, including at Twitter, AWS, ServiceNow, Yelp, Branch, some smaller YC companies, etc.
Historically, whenever there's been a lucrative new business opportunity with little oversight it's almost guaranteed to be rife with corruption and scams. That's not to say that legit bootcamps don't exist - my own partner had a successful experience with one - but the marketplace is a minefield of potentially life-ruining opportunities, and the only way to tell good from bad is through anecdotes and he-said-she-said. That's a big problem.