Is Lambda School Legit?

According to USNEWS, The average cost of college in the United States is $41,411 for private colleges and $11,171 for state colleges. This does not include the cost of books and accommodations that can potentially set you back another couple of thousand dollars. 

In all, having a degree does not guarantee a job anymore. Back then, a college degree would almost guarantee a job after graduation. However, times are changing, and simply having a degree will not be enough to persuade hiring managers to choose you.

With the average cost of traditional education becoming increasingly unaffordable to the average person, many students are looking elsewhere for their education. For this reason, we will try to answer the question, is Lambda School Legit?

The average student has around $39,351 in debt after finishing college. With the increasing cost of traditional education and student debt, many companies have offered students a “better” alternative.

They’ve offered an alternative that could get you a high-paying job without the expensive traditional education price tag. Something that could give you the skills you need to be ready for the job market. 

Lambda School is among the many companies that have come up with solutions like this. This article will dive into all the information you will need to know concerning whether or not Lambda School is legit.

Table of Content

• Is Lambda School Accredited? 
• What Exactly is Lambda School?
• How Much Are You Paying in Tuition?
• What if I Don’t Find A Job After Lambda School?
• What courses are offered at Lambda School?
• How does Lambda School work?
• Lambda School’s income share agreements
• Can Lambda School Get you a job?
• Which companies hire Lambda School Graduates?

Is Lambda School Accredited? 

No, Lambda School is not an accredited institution. However, according to the website, it is regulated at the state level as a post-secondary education institution. 

Accreditation is a topic of concern for many people, so it is essential to know if lambda school is legit or not.

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What Exactly is Lambda School?

Unlike other boot camps or online schools, Lambda School focuses primarily on data and computer science courses that prepare its students for Data Science or Software Engineer roles. 

According to the Lambda School homepage, Lambda is “The online coding school that invests in you.” The part where they specify “invests in you” is crucial to their whole mission. 

Also, unlike many boot camps and traditional online courses and schools, Lambda School does not charge you any money until you find a job. And not just any job. 

You’ll only be paying your tuition AFTER you land a job that is $50,000 or more. In addition, it will be a monthly payment, so do not worry if you are concerned about having to pay it all back immediately. 

Lambda School started to provide an alternative educational path to success after its founders realized how “broken” the traditional model of higher education was. 

From increasing tuition and cost and student debt to unemployment, anyone who has ever been to or attended a higher education institution will quickly find out just how broken it is. 

Unfortunately, traditional higher education institutions don’t have much incentive to help their students secure jobs. But you must pay these traditional institutions regardless of whether or not their graduates succeed, which is a harsh reality. 

The model of higher education is different when it comes to Lambda School. Circling back to their headline, “The online coding school that invests in you” speaks volumes. 

Instead of putting more money out there on another certificate with no guaranteed return on investment, the school decides whether or not they want to invest in you. 

That’s right, you read it correctly. To enroll in Lambda School, you must apply just like any other school. 

They are investing in you and must ensure you can return that investment. So despite being a great alternative to traditional education, it is a business. 

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How Much Are You Paying in Tuition?

A‍s mentioned above; you will not be paying any tuition upfront for the entire program. Instead, you enter into an Income Share Agreement (ISA) with Lambda School. 

The income share agreement states that you (as the student) will agree to pay back 17% of your income to Lambda School post-graduation. 

However, you will only start paying it back once you earn up to $50,000. This income share agreement can help you answer whether Lambda School is legit or not.

What if I Don’t Find A Job After Lambda School?

Many students debating whether or not to continue with the traditional path or Lambda will ask this. Do you still need to pay it back even if you don’t find a job? How long do you have to find a job?

The answer is that if you haven’t found a qualified job after 60 months of deferred payments, then you will pay nothing. Their idea is that if you succeed, they succeed. But, conversely, if you fail, they also fail.

However, Lambda school does not guarantee you the job, so that should also help decide, Is Lambda School a Legit or not. 

A qualified job, in this instance, refers to any job that makes you $50,000 or more a year.

What courses are offered at Lambda School?

As of today, Lambda School offers courses in Data Science, Full Stack Development, and Backend Development. They have also added an Introduction to HTML and CSS course for free. 

So depending on what career path you wish to take, checking each course out will be the best first step. This will help you understand the program’s outline and decide whether Lambda School is worth pursuing.

How Does Lambda School Work?

So now that you understand what Lambda School is, let’s move on to how it works. 

While many online schools and boot camps afford you the flexibility of studying within your schedule, Lambda School differs. It works very similarly to traditional schools when it comes to their timetables. 

Lambda School offers both full-time and part-time programs. As such, students enrolled in the full-time programs will be expected to attend classes on Monday to Friday from 8 am to 5 pm PST for the entire six months. 

However, students enrolled in the part-time programs are expected to attend classes Monday to Thursday from 6 pm to 9 pm PST and one weekend afternoon for twelve months. 

This option is most popular amongst young adults and even working-class students who have to work during the day. However, the part-time programs will take twice as long to complete. 

So that you understand the what and how, let’s get into how you can apply for Lambda School, assuming you are interested and still confused about that Is Lambda School legit or not.

1.   Submit an application

The first step is to submit your application to Lambda school and have all your information ready and provided. This includes your name, email, address, interested course, start date, etc.

Also Read: Lambda school acceptance rate

2. Take the assessment

As mentioned above, not everyone who applies will get in. However, the school admits you based on your potential to succeed in their program and eventually pays them back. 

So to make sure that each candidate will be a good fit, they take an assessment. 

The assessment will measure each candidate’s verbal, mathematical, logical, and spatial reasoning skills. These are all the fundamental skills that every successful candidatemusto have before being considered for admission. 

3.   Accept or Decline your Acceptance 

If you are admitted into Lambda School, you can begin to choose your starting date for your program. This depends on whether you wish to be a full-time or part-time student. Once everything is finalized, you can sign the necessary documents.

Note: Full Stack Developer students are required to take a coding assessment in order fol to evaluate their current proficiency.

4.   Attend class 

Once you have everything ready and have chosen your start date, you will be required to commit to this program for the next 6 months (or 12 months for part-time students). 

You are required to attend all your classes to receive all the benefits that Lambda School would have to offer — including the interactive groups. 

Also, on the first day, you will be assigned to different teams and introduced to how the program operates daily. This will include tips on making the most out of the online learning environment and the community. 

The school system operates differently at Lambda; the curriculum in the school is divided into units. Then the units are further split into “sprints.” So it takes one week to complete a sprint for a full-time program and two weeks for a part-time schedule.

5.   Challenge Yourself With the Sprints

Every Friday, there are challenges to test your knowledge of the concepts you learned that week. This helps reinforce the knowledge while also making it a more friendly competition. 

Reminder: It is a timed challenge. So you will have three hours to complete the sprint challenge. 

Once you have completed the challenge, it will be reviewed by your instructors. Depending on how you perform during the challenge, you will have to repeat the challenge if you fail. 

However, if you are scared of failing and repeating the challenges, do not worry. This is their process of ensuring you have the adequate skills to continue the program without falling behind. 

This will actually prime you up better for success in the real world compared to traditional institutions.

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6.   Participate in Lambda Labs

Toward the end of your program, you will be allowed to participate in Lambda Labs. Lambda Labs is an in-house apprenticeship where students will be able to work and create real-world projects in a small team setting. 

This is an excellent chance to show off your collaboration skills while working towards an actual project that can help your resume and portfolio. 

1.   Get your certificate of completion

Finally, when you have completed the entire program and satisfied all your requirements, you will gain a certificate of completion. 

As mentioned above, Lambda School is not an accredited institution nor a degree-granting institution. Most traditional schools will end their journey with you here. 

However, Lambda School does want you to get a good-paying job. That is how they make their money back, after all. As a result, career services at Lambda School, which starts around week 2 would have helped you navigate the job market and leverage your skills to land a job.  Do you know what the best part is? The school helps you secure some interviews and recommendations and even assists you with your negotiation

Lambda School’s income share agreements

As previously mentioned, the tuition system works differently with Lambda School. So instead of paying tuition upfront, the student signs an income-sharing agreement. 

The income sharing agreement states that the student must pay 17% of their gross salary for 2 years after finding a qualified job. But the job needs to be making them $50,000 or more every year for it to be qualified. 

For those students who are concerned about Lambda School taking advantage of them, do not worry. The total payments are capped at $30,000. This implies that you are done once you pay the full $30,000. 

However, if you cannot find a qualified job after 60 months of deferred payments, you do not have to pay. 

Income-sharing agreements are only available to U.S citizens, U.S. permanent residents, or DACA recipients.

Also, read: Pricing structure of Lambda School.

Can Lambda School Get You a Job?

Lambda School can provide you with a plethora of resources and opportunities to secure a job. 

However, like many institutions, they cannot guarantee a job. This is an important point when considering if Lambda is legit or not. 

Which companies hire Lambda School Graduates?

According to the 2019 Outcomes report posted on their website, Lambda School graduates have previously been hired by:

• CapitalOne
• Amazon
• eBay
• WayFair
• Cisco
• InfoSys

Is a Coding Bootcamp Better Than a Degree?

This actually depends on where you are applying for a job. This is because hiring managers have their own biases toward the two. 

There are some managers who prefer working with computer science degree holders since they have gained accreditation from a school with a defined curriculum. But at the same time, there are those who prefer to work with coding bootcamp participants since they have gained hands-on experience on how to do their job. 

The truth of the matter is, computer science degree holders have more theoretical knowledge than hands-on experience. And for some companies, theoretical knowledge may not be enough.

These companies prefer working with bootcamp graduates since they are up-to-speed with the skills that are relevant to the industry. And as a result, they no longer have to spend money to train these candidates.  

Is Lambda School Worth It? 

For anyone interested in getting work in an IT-related firm, knowing the latest languages and tools can be a big help. And this is what makes Lambda School a better choice. 

If you wish to develop new skills that will allow you to gain an edge in a digital field, then Lambda School is definitely worth it. 

Apart from giving you the knowledge you require, Lambda gives its students other opportunities like mock interviews, career coaching, and resume improvement. 

If you’re searching for an intensive, full-time web development or data science coding bootcamp and are ready to pay more for live coaching and a well-designed curriculum, Lambda School is worthwhile. However, the $30,000 cost and the six months required for full-time students to graduate represent a considerable time commitment.