u/michaelnovati posted · ★ FEATURED
NEWS: Code Fellows has ceased operations and shut down. Ending an 11 year legacy.
Source: https://www.codefellows.org/
The message they shared is really bittersweet and you can see the passion and impact they had over the years but they just couldn't make it work as the market has permanently changed.
They tried to adapt and innovate but at some point it's time to look elsewhere to have impact the world because the market is the market.
"Achieving greatness at the scale we’ve reached at Code Fellows requires exceptional people working together tirelessly toward a shared mission, under shared values. It has been a privilege and an honor to be part of this journey and to witness the incredible outcomes of our mission-driven work. From the beginning, our mission at Code Fellows was to provide transformative, career-focused education that opened doors for people from all backgrounds. Our goal was to make tech inclusive and accessible, and I’m incredibly proud of how we’ve accomplished that. We have disrupted the education industry in the best ways possible." — Jeff Malek, CEO
I appreciate that they are leaving in a positive note, with their integrity and reputation in tact and I wish them the best in their future efforts.
Pulse Check:
This news adds to Rithm, another top program that announced closure last week.
Codesmith doesn't officially announce 2023 outcomes until March 2025 but since they won't tell us the data they have, it's important to try to get what we can do compare. Using the best data I can put together, their 2023 six months placement rate is collapsing. They are also reportedly seeing lower enrollment / not full cohorts. They are betting the company on AI ready engineers, but have only introduced a tiny bit of material (5 lectures) - and more importantly - the market has no idea which AI skills are needed yet as it changes all the time and it's impossible to learn AI at scale in a bootcamp environment - and all this might be for nought. AI engineers will be forged by regular engineers going to big tech and learning AI from the latest and greatest at scale.
Launch School announced strong placement data for 2023 and hasn't had any layoffs yet and might be one of the only top ones left that is stable. But they are super small and have a lean team, and a very opinionated pedagogy, so it's not like they can absorb all the students from all the closed schools either