One thing to keep in mind about the 30k number. Unless it's changed it is percentage based with a min. If you're making less then 50k it's nothing, if you're making 50k it's 17k in repayment. If you're making a 150k it's capped at 30k, but you're paying 2125 dollars a month until you hit that.

It's 17 percent of your salary for 2 years or you hit 30k repayment whichever is first. If you don't make over 50k, or don't get a job in a related field (which includes things like IT support I believe) it disappears.

You can kind of see why a student would think that the bootcamp is aligned with their interests. They want you to get a high paying job so they get paid more, and if you don't succeed you owe nothing.

I went through this, and my salary went up 2.25 times what it was previously. I also enjoy my job significantly more. To me this was worth 30k.

Why didn't I just teach myself? A few reasons, one is motivation/accountability, another is structure, and a third was a hope that career services would help me on the other side. I won't claim it was my smartest move, it got me out of the hole I was in.

Edit: want to be clear I'm not recommending doing this, I'm just saying what my/other students I talked to decision process was