Dive Brief:
- Northeastern University offers a two-month bootcamp in data analytics, aimed at helping participants increase opportunities for career changes or entry-level work.
- Officials say that their institutional professional networks in the analytics industry help bootcamp graduates to quickly find positions.
- The bootcamp is an ideal marketing tool for the university's advanced degree programs in computer programming.
Dive Insight:
Bootcamps may be an ideal value add for colleges and universities seeking to boost revenue while helping professionals find new careers, but they are also the ideal marketing tool to promote graduate study in competitive STEM fields.
According to EdSurge, Rutgers University is another institution offering similar crash courses in coding and analytics, but similar opportunities for professional development outside of STEM fields. For lawyers looking for career changes in a down economy, smaller colleges and universities could offer similar bootcamps in teacher education and certification. Schools with media programs could offer social media management training and content creation courses or other options in criminal justice and public health administration.
The maker industry may be defined by science and technology, but for schools struggling to stay alive, the bootcamp movement may be a much-needed lifeline in boosting public awareness, marketing for degree programs that would appeal to veterans or stay-at-home parents seeking to earn professional skills in a condensed setting.