Launch Academy Scorecards: Measuring the Inaugural Philadelphia Cohort

Here at Launch Academy, when it comes to how we run our coding bootcamps—and how to plan for the future—we keep the following standards top of mind:

• We’re not a coding bootcamp factory  

• We won’t expand to new locations just for expansion sake  

• We don’t answer to VCs or large for-profit education companies, so we determine the pace of our growth

These values drive all of our growth and expansion efforts, with an underlying commitment to maintaining a high quality student experience. We strongly believe people deserve a higher quality of education than what’s being offered outside the coding bootcamp industry.

When we opened our doors in Philadelphia back in January, we aimed to prove just that. And in the interest of full transparency, here’s the Performance Scorecard from Launch Academy’s first Philly cohort.

PERFORMANCE SCORECARD

The coding bootcamp industry only exists for one reason: student outcomes. While results like graduation rate and student-to-teacher ratios matter, our success rides solely on our ability to serve students in the capacity of getting jobs. As we have done since inception in Boston, we will report our Philadelphia student outcome statistics for all to see following the post-grad interview phase of the program.

As with all cohorts, we continue to serve our students via a demanding post-graduate program including close access to career support and curriculum updates.   

Beyond placement statistics, we requested feedback from our Philadelphia hiring partners to learn how we can evolve and improve future cohorts. Here’s a sampling of their survey responses from our first Philly Career Kickoff:

Q: What are your thoughts about what Launch Academy is doing?

“Very informative from staff to Launchers. I felt that the tech was relevant to our product currently being used + developed.”—GSI Health

“Big fan of it, helping the startup and tech scene grow by honing developer talent available is fantastic.”—LeagueSide

“I love it. It's really encouraging to see an organization helping to build up local tech talent. You guys can hopefully become part of a growing startup ecosystem."—LeagueSide

Q: What ways can we improve your experience for the upcoming Career Kickoff?

“More time for Launchers to explain their projects even more."—GSI Health

“Please keep it a small setting!”—Accolade

Q: What one quality do you look for in an alternative education/bootcamp graduate? Why?

“We're looking for a good culture fit. We want people that are good to work with, easy to communicate with, and willing to get their hands dirty.”—LeagueSide

“Initiative → the willingness to continue to learn + try + fail and not be discouraged.”—Coded by Kids

We take all feedback to our traditional “offseason” period following graduation where we evolve our curriculum and its delivery.

We are grateful to the welcoming Philadelphia community and look forward to doing our part toward continuing to grow the local tech market.

Jim Bruno is a former senior member of the Launch Academy marketing team.