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2U, a prominent online program management company, is ceasing its boot-camp programs, which provided technical training to students in partnership with colleges.
Instead of traditional boot-camp offerings, 2U is going to develop shorter microcredentials that combine live teaching with asynchronous components, according to an announcement from the company.
Coding boot camps, which typically run for 12 weeks if a student attends full-time, emerged in the last decade as a way to train workers for jobs in technology fields. But they’ve struggled in recent years following the emergence of shorter-term training programs and generative AI, as well as shifting labor needs in the tech sector.
Additionally, critics have taken issue with the boot camps’ relationships with colleges and universities, which can give the impression that a college is running the program when in fact it’s an outside company.
2U purchased Trilogy Education Services, a large boot-camp provider, in 2019 for $750 million as a way to expand its boot-camp business. More than 96,000 students have graduated from the company’s boot camps. Current students will be supported through the end of their programs, 2U said.
Matt Norden, 2U’s interim CEO, said the decision came after “careful consideration and analysis of fundamental shifts in technology skills training and labor markets.”
“Simply put, the long-form, intensive training that boot camps provide no longer aligns with what the market wants and needs,” Norden wrote. “We are adapting to meet these new market realities by partnering with universities to create more flexible programs that equip learners with the in-demand, practical skills for success in today’s rapidly evolving digital economy.”
