DEVELOPING: Codesmith 2024 California Government Outcomes report is out today. Only 12% are placed within 6 months with reported salary (50% including 'no salary information available') but press release also out today says '85% to 90% placement rate within 12 months' 'CIRR verified' (no time frame)

DEVELOPING: Codesmith 2024 California Government Outcomes report is out today. Only 12% are placed within 6 months with reported salary (50% including 'no salary information available') but press release also out today says '85% to 90% placement rate within 12 months' 'CIRR verified' (no time frame) SOURCE: [https://bppe.ca.gov/webapplications/annualReports/2024/document/98d87f0e-23c1-4af7-aabf-7c91d4ea7312](https://bppe.ca.gov/webapplications/annualReports/2024/document/98d87f0e-23c1-4af7-aabf-7c91d4ea7312) I can't legally comment much on this so instead I ran it through a neutral AI with the following prompt: "Summarize this document and compare it to information about Codesmith you can research and flag any good things and flag any concerning things. Summarize in 5 bullet points." * **Completion is very high, but placement is not.** Codesmith’s Software Engineering Immersive shows **94–98% on-time graduation**, but only **42% (2023) to 50% (2024)** of graduates are **employed in-field within 6 months**, which is much lower than many people assume. * **Public outcomes vs. regulatory outcomes use different clocks.** Codesmith’s marketing often cites \~**70% in-field placement within 12 months**, while the BPPE fact sheet uses a stricter **6-month window**—both can be true, but the gap matters for student risk and runway. * **Salary data is largely missing.** **\~62–67% of employed-in-field graduates have no salary reported**, making salary distributions (including $100k+ claims) incomplete and not representative of the full cohort. * **Some outcomes rely on non-standard employment.** A noticeable share of “employed in-field” roles are **self-employed/freelance or institutional (school-related) jobs**, which aren’t inherently bad but deserve scrutiny when evaluating job quality and durability. * **Costs are high and financing is private-only.** Tuition is about **$19–20k**, **no federal student loans are available**, and newer programs (AI/ML, DS/ML) currently have **no outcome data**, increasing uncertainty. This press release from today: [https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/top-ranked-ai-training-company-brings-silicon-valley-excellence-to-washington-codesmith-selected-for-118m-irs-contract-302674440.html](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/top-ranked-ai-training-company-brings-silicon-valley-excellence-to-washington-codesmith-selected-for-118m-irs-contract-302674440.html) Says "Federal selection followed rigorous evaluation of Codesmith's independently verified outcomes: 85-90% of graduates placed within 12 months, two-thirds promoted within three years, and an average starting salary of $130,000." Something isn't adding up but I can't speculate or comment, I can just state as a fact that the numbers do not add up.