What Is a Coding Bootcamp for Veterans?

A coding bootcamp for veterans is a short-term, immersive, and career-oriented tech training program that offers specific benefits to veterans. While not all coding bootcamps cater to past or present members of the military, the bootcamp style of learning is attractive to anyone in search of a direct path into a new career, which is often the position that veterans find themselves in.

Veteran coding bootcamps can be either in-person or online programs, although the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) tends to favor onsite modes of instruction. Coding bootcamps for veterans are generally those that have earned the VA’s stamp of approval, and they tend to be geared toward software engineering, web development, and cyber security careers.

What Makes a Coding Bootcamp Good For Veterans?

Any coding bootcamp that leads to a high-paying job is good for veterans. More to the point, a coding bootcamp that offers dedicated training, perks, or scholarships to veterans is a good fit for someone transitioning into civilian life. Here are three ways that the best coding bootcamps for veterans distinguish themselves from non-veteran coding bootcamps:

• They cater to veterans specifically. A few bootcamps, such as Code Platoon, are marketed exclusively to veterans and their families. Their mission is to provide vets with low-cost or highly subsidized training for high-paying tech careers.
• They are approved to accept GI Bill benefits. Other bootcamps might accept applicants from all walks of life, but they also allow veterans to use their GI Bill benefits to lower or eliminate the cost of tuition. GI Bill coding bootcamps need to be approved by the VA before they can offer this perk, and only a handful hold this distinction.
• They are approved to accept VET TEC. The Veteran Employment Through Technology Education Courses (VET TEC) program has only been around since 2019. While funding lasts, qualifying veterans can get tuition and housing assistance for VET TEC-approved programs, some of which are coding bootcamps.

GI Bill-Approved Coding Bootcamps: Overview

A handful of coding bootcamps are approved by the VA to accept veterans’ GI Bill benefits. While this piece of federal legislation, which was first signed into law in 1944, did not originally apply to coding bootcamps, the GI Bill was always designed to provide veterans with access to educational opportunities for their lives after military service. As such, recent renewals of the law have made it so that the GI Bill will pay for coding bootcamps that meet the VA’s standards.

Top Coding Bootcamps That Accept the GI Bill

• Claim Academy
• Code Platoon
• Code Fellows
• Codeup
• Divergence Academy
• General Assembly
• Skill Distillery
• Turing School
• Tech Elevator
• We Can Code IT

VET TEC Coding Bootcamps: Overview

VET TEC, or Veteran Employment Through Technology Education Courses, is the latest attempt by US lawmakers to adapt the GI Bill to the realities of 21st-century education. Launched in 2019 as part of the Forever GI Bill, VET TEC is a five-year pilot program. VET TEC-approved coding bootcamps are open to veterans who have at least one day of GI Bill eligibility. Unlike the GI Bill, veterans can use VET TEC to cover housing costs while attending their program.

Top Coding Bootcamps That Accept VET TEC

• Code Platoon
• Codeup
• Fullstack Academy
• Divergence Academy
• Galvanize
• LEARN Academy
• Skill Distillery
• Tech Elevator
• We Can Code IT
• Zip Code Wilmington

Coding Bootcamp Scholarships for Veterans

If you’re a veteran and your preferred coding bootcamp doesn’t accept GI Bill or VET TEC funds, you still may be eligible for reduced tuition through special scholarships or discounts for veterans. Here are a few coding bootcamp scholarships that veterans should keep in mind:

• Code Platoon Scholarships. Even though Code Platoon accepts both the GI Bill and VET TEC, veterans are also welcome to apply for full-ride scholarships. These include the Veteran and Military Spouse Scholarship, the Black and Hispanic Scholarship, the Women in Technology Scholarship, and the Transgender Veteran Scholarship.
• Military Family Scholarship | V School. This full-ride scholarship is not only open to veterans but also to active duty service members and members of military families. One scholarship is awarded per cohort.
• Military Heroes Scholarship | Coding Dojo. This scholarship awards a tuition discount of $1,000. Like other scholarships on this list, the Military Heroes Scholarship is also available to current service members.
• Veteran Scholarship | Claim Academy. St. Louis-based Claim Academy offers this $500 benefit to any veteran who has received an honorable discharge.
• Veterans Tech Transition Coding Scholarship | LEARN Academy. All veterans are welcome to apply for this scholarship, but LEARN Academy is especially interested in helping veterans who are facing difficulties in their transition into civilian life.

Other Financing Options for Veterans Attending Coding Bootcamps

If targeted education benefits are not available, veterans can take advantage of one of the other flexible financing options that coding bootcamps offer to everyone. The most popular of these are income share agreements, deferred tuition plans, and private student loans.

Deferred Tuition

Many bootcamps allow students to defer their tuition payments until they graduate. In some cases, payments are fully waived if the student is unable to find a job within a designated period of time, a form of coding bootcamp job guarantee. The only downside of this method is that the deferred tuition cost is usually much higher than the cost of paying for the program upfront.

Income Share Agreements (ISAs)

One specific form of deferred tuition that has been widely adopted in the bootcamp industry is the income share agreement, or ISA for short. Instead of charging a fixed tuition rate, ISAs take a percentage of each graduate’s tech salary for a specified number of months. By tying tuition to future earnings, ISAs are a sign of bootcamps’ confidence that their students will get jobs.

Private Loans

Many bootcamps also partner with private lenders to set students up with traditional loan agreements. Under these arrangements, bootcamps get their money upfront and students are on the hook for the full cost of tuition plus interest payments. Any veteran who signs one of these agreements should pay close attention to the terms and keep their debt load manageable.

Are There Free Coding Bootcamps for Veterans?

The closest thing to a free coding bootcamp for veterans is Code Platoon, which operates as a non-profit and does everything within its power to ensure that veterans pay as little of their own money as possible. To this end, Code Platoon accepts both the GI Bill and VET TEC and offers several full-ride scholarships.

Are There Cyber Security Bootcamps for Veterans?

Yes, there are cyber security bootcamps for veterans, including GI Bill cyber security bootcamps. Although less common than other types of coding bootcamps for veterans, a few prominent cyber security bootcamp programs do accept VA benefits. For example, Fullstack Academy’s cyber program is eligible for VET TEC and Divergence Academy’s programs are GI Bill-eligible.

Career Options for Veteran Coding Bootcamp Grads

Veterans who graduate from coding bootcamps have a wide range of high-paying careers in tech to choose from, depending on their program’s focus. The options are not limited to software engineering and web development but also to data science and cyber security careers. See below for the top jobs that veteran coding bootcamps funnel their graduates into.

DevOps Engineer

• Average Salary: $127,880
• Projected Job Growth, 2022-2032: 27%
• Best Veteran Coding Bootcamps: Code Platoon, Codeup

This role combines software engineering, project management, and knowledge of IT infrastructure into one rewarding occupation. If you want to head up the software development processes for an entire organization, DevOps engineering is the career for you. Both Code Platoon and Codeup offer cloud engineering programs for students interested in DevOps.

Software Engineer

• Average Salary: $127,260
• Projected Job Growth, 2022-2032: 26%
• Best Veteran Coding Bootcamps: Skill Distillery, Tech Elevator, Turing School

Software engineering is the most popular coding discipline that tech bootcamps teach. The curriculums of the veteran coding bootcamps Skill Distillery, Tech Elevator, and Turing School cover how to become a software engineer. Each course revolves around a single programming language, such as Java or C#, along with complementary tools and frameworks.

Cyber Security Analyst

• Average Salary: $112,000
• Projected Job Growth, 2022-2032: 32%
• Best Veteran Coding Bootcamps: Divergence Academy, Fullstack Academy

Cyber security analysts, also known as information security analysts, check for vulnerabilities in computer systems and networks using techniques such as penetration testing. Protecting sensitive data is essential to any successful enterprise, making cyber security an attractive career option for military veterans transitioning away from active duty.

Data Scientist

• Average Salary: $103,500
• Projected Job Growth, 2022-2032: 35%
• Best Veteran Coding Bootcamps: Codeup, Galvanize

Since data science is the most in-demand career field on our list, it should come as no surprise that data science is the third most popular bootcamp subject, trailing only software engineering and web development, according to our 2023 bootcamp market report. At a data science bootcamp, veterans can learn applied statistics, Python, machine learning, and more.

Web Developer

• Average Salary: $78,580
• Projected Job Growth, 2022-2032: 17%
• Best Veteran Coding Bootcamps: Codeup, LEARN Academy

Learning how to build websites with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript is the bread and butter of many immersive bootcamps. Whether you eventually want to work as a freelancer or for a company, any veteran can find meaningful employment opportunities as a full stack developer by attending San Diego’s LEARN Academy or Dallas and San Antonio’s Codeup.

Alternatives to Coding Bootcamps for Veterans Interested in Tech Careers

Coding bootcamps for veterans are the fastest way for ex-military personnel to enter the tech industry after exiting the armed forces. There are, however, a few slower-paced ways to learn the same or similar technical skills, which some veterans may prefer.

College Degrees

The traditional route to a coding job is a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. While most accredited university degree programs also accept the GI Bill, the higher cost of college means that veterans may have to pay more out of pocket than they would like. Some veterans also may not be willing to spend four more years in school, which is the average time to graduation.

Vocational Programs

Some tech careers, such as IT support roles and a handful of computer engineering jobs, fall outside the scope of online coding bootcamp programs. Indeed, the hands-on nature of some tech jobs requires in-person instruction, which is best sought out at a community college or trade school. Veterans can usually get tuition assistance to attend these short-term programs.

Apprenticeship Programs

On-the-job training is an efficient way to learn essential career skills, and many companies are proud to provide veterans with these kinds of apprenticeship opportunities. Best of all, most veteran apprenticeships are paid roles, meaning that veterans can learn subjects like cloud engineering and network support without having to wait to start earning a real salary.

Is a Coding Bootcamp Worth It for Veterans?

A coding bootcamp is worth it for any veteran who is ready for their next career, is curious about tech, and is looking for a short-term training option with a high reward-to-risk ratio. The best coding bootcamps for veterans present an especially efficient use of GI Bill funds, VET TEC, or other veteran educational benefits.

A coding bootcamp that doesn’t accept the GI Bill or VET TEC may not be worth your time, especially if you know of a training alternative that is eligible for your military benefits. That being said, you should be able to find a GI Bill-eligible or VET TEC-approved coding bootcamp that works for you, many of which specialize in flexible and convenient online courses.