We have seen the value in providing scholarships to highly motivated web development students over the course of our tenure. The first official scholarship we offered was in late 2016, where we awarded 50% of tuition costs to mission-driven individuals with a positive impact on their community. Since then we have offered many partial scholarships based on merit and need, and one full Diversity Scholarship.
On the tails of our first scholarship, we wanted to honor future women developers alongside Women’s History Month. In March of 2017 we awarded partial scholarships to all women who were accepted to our third cohort. We were thrilled with the results of this scholarship initiative, as it resulted in a classroom comprised of 60% innovative and brilliant women.
Our 6th cohort begins February 19, 2018 – running straight through Women’s History Month in March. We didn’t need to think twice about wanting to offer another round of scholarships in 2018. We will be awarding a $3,000 scholarship to each of the first 8 women who are accepted to and enroll in our February 2018 course.
We would like to acknowledge that in place of scholarships, some other coding bootcamps have used a broader deferred tuition model as a way to support and increase diversity. Many prospective Rithm School students have asked us why we do not employ a similar model. There are three primary reasons for this:
- “Pay later” models often result in students paying much higher tuition costs for a similar length program, so that the bootcamp can build a safety net around its finances. For example, if you are committed to paying a bootcamp 28% of your first-year salary as tuition after landing a job, and your starting salary is $95,000 (a very common starting package in San Francisco!), you will end up paying tuition of $26,600 within your first year of work.
- If paying up front is truly not an option for you, Rithm School also has an excellent partnership with Skills Fund. Rather than handing over a sizable chunk of your salary in the first year on the job, Skills Fund loans are repaid on 36 or 60-month terms, allowing you to net more of your paycheck when it matters most.
We believe that a mix of diversity and merit-based scholarships, combined with realistic lending options and our job placement guarantee, creates a much fairer experience for students from a variety of financial backgrounds. This ethos allow Rithm the flexibility to support students who need an extra hand while never sacrificing the quality and integrity of our program.
Do you or someone you know deserve a shot at one of these partial scholarships? Apply now for our February 19th class and set up a time to chat with our Admissions Manager, Angelina, to discuss all your options. We look forward to meeting you!
