Originally founded in 2016 by Zach Cohen, NextGen Bootcamp started as a computer science training provider for middle and high school students. Cohen aimed to bring immersive coding education to a younger age group and felt that the programs available to middle and high school students at the time were severely lacking. He started with an 8-week summer coding bootcamp in New Jersey, but demand quickly rose, and soon NextGen offered additional subjects and expanded to New York City as well.
Today, NextGen Bootcamp operates in partnership with Noble Desktop. This connection ultimately allowed considerable growth for the school’s programs and curriculum as well as access to Noble’s top-notch facility and instructors. While NextGen’s mission remains educating students through immersive summer bootcamps and private training, it can now do so under the umbrella of NYC’s top design and coding school.
School Locations
NextGen Bootcamp’s in-person courses are held in the same facility as partner school Noble Desktop. The NYC campus is located in Midtown Manhattan and is easily accessible by several forms of public transit like the subway, bus, and NJ PATH. Students who prefer online learning or are unable to commute can also access NextGen’s programs in a live online format.
Subjects Taught at NextGen Bootcamp
Students interested in coding and design can learn from several NextGen courses in each field. There are options in graphic design, web design, coding, computer science, and finance, to name a few.
What Classes Are Available?
For students who lean toward artistic mediums, the Graphic Design and/or Web Design bootcamps might be a good fit. The graphic design program teaches fundamental design principles and also introduces the Adobe Creative Cloud, a popular suite of applications for any professional in the field. In the web design course, students learn to design a website in Sketch, then build it using front-end coding through HTML, CSS, Flexbox, and Grid. Since graphic design and web design often go hand in hand, there is also a combined program where students can learn both skills together.
Students who are more interested in math and science would benefit from NextGen’s coding courses in subjects like Java Programming, Computer Science, and Python Data Science. These courses introduce students to the world of programming and focus on the languages, frameworks, and concepts they’ll see if they enter a coding-related career path. Across all programs, students will learn by coding real projects, often from the very first day of class.
Another option is the Excel and Finance Bootcamp, which teaches Microsoft Excel, finance, and even stock market investing. Students will learn about business and finance concepts through the lens of Microsoft Excel, the most-used application in the field. It is an ideal course, not only for students interested in finance but also areas like business, real estate, or entrepreneurship in general.
Class Formats
NextGen Bootcamp courses are available through in-person or live online formats. For in-person courses, students will attend at the Manhattan campus where all equipment and software are included in tuition, including state-of-the-art Mac and PC computers. Live online students must supply their own hardware and wifi, but the formats are otherwise quite similar and include the same curriculum and materials.
Whether students choose to train in-person or online, all NextGen Bootcamp courses take place during summer break so that students will not have to juggle their commitments with other homework or school activities. Course duration varies between two and six weeks or 30 and 107 hours, with plenty of options in between depending on the amount of time a student has to commit. Most courses meet daily Monday through Friday but the hours vary; some are 10 am to 1 pm, while others may go until 4 pm.
Admissions Process
The admissions process for NextGen is straightforward; there are no prerequisites or special requirements before application. Each NextGen Bootcamp course has an “Enroll Now” button near the top-right corner of the page, which allows students to sign up directly to the program of their choice. On the registration page, students choose their desired dates and enter any applicable promo codes before moving to the checkout page. Returning students can simply sign in to complete the registration process, though new students will need to create an account first.
Pricing & Payment Options
Most NextGen programs fall into the $1,300 to $4,000 price range, depending on the length and subject matter of the course. Unfortunately, no payment plans or financial aid are currently offered at this time; however, if you do need financial assistance, there are companies like Ascent that specialize in furnishing independent student loans.
Career Support Services
Because NextGen Bootcamp is geared toward middle and high school students, its courses are not meant to be full-scale career preparation and therefore do not offer mentoring or career support beyond the course itself. These courses are certainly useful to help students decide what field they wish to pursue after graduation, but further education will be necessary to qualify for most jobs.
Alumni Outcomes
There are many reasons students sign up for NextGen Bootcamp courses. Some might be preparing for college or a more rigorous certificate program, while others may be using the courses to get ready for their AP exams—or simply to preview a field before deciding on a career path. Due to this variety of experiences, there is no general outcomes report available, as outcomes vary widely depending on each student and their goals.
What Do Students Say?
NextGen students have highly positive feedback about their experience in the school. Across Facebook reviews and community sites like NiceLocal, alumni often leave five-star ratings with favorable feedback all around.
Recurring praise for NextGen’s courses include compliments for its strong curriculum, supportive instructors, and immersive learning experience. One Java student had “an amazing experience” at their bootcamp, and went on to state, “The instructor did a great job of exposing students to many different concepts in the two weeks we had and was very passionate about what he was teaching us. I especially enjoyed using the concepts we were taught and applying them to more challenging problems!” This student and many others ended the review with a resounding recommendation for anyone thinking about taking a course with NextGen to do so.
Another resource for student feedback is NextGen’s testimonial page, where you can find plenty of feedback from former students. One coding student said of her experience, “This class made me a faster, more efficient coder. The curriculum is well designed and the teachers really care about your success. I would recommend NextGen to anyone looking to gain this integral skill.”