Higher Education in the Age of Access

On Oct. 14, 2015, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it would begin to offer federal student loans to students attending a few select “coding bootcamps,” intensive short-term (around six weeks) courses of study that promise to turn just about anyone into a programmer. These bootcamps have become increasingly popular—the Department of Education estimates 16,000 people will graduate from them in 2015—but have been out of reach for many, with tuition bills weighing in at over $10,000 in most cases.