A review of Kenzie Academy as a tech bootcamp

Updated in 2023

What does Kenzie Academy do?
Who is Kenzie Academy for?
What does Kenzie Academy cost?
Ratings and reviews of Kenzie Academy
Alternatives to Kenzie Academy
How does Kenzie Academy compare to Pathrise?

What does Kenzie Academy do?

Kenzie Academy is a full-time tech bootcamp that offers in-person and online courses in 2 tracks: software engineering & UX design and front-end engineering. Students can take the program at the Indianapolis campus or participate online alongside the on-campus class via video conferencing.

Classes for the software engineering and UX programs take place Monday-Friday from 9am-3pm. Students who select the online option can choose between either 9am-3pm EST or 9am-3pm PST. The online programs are live and lectures are not recorded, so attendance is highly recommended.

Participating in a project-based curriculum, students complete individual and team assignments that are based on real-life situations. In the final weeks of the program, students work with their instructors and career coaches on building their portfolios and resumes, as well as practicing for technical and behavioral interviews. However, students do not receive 1-on-1 support from their mentors.

Both tracks take 12 months to complete. Those in the software engineering program spend 6 months on front-end development and 6 months on back-end development. Software engineering students cover the fundamentals of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, as well as SQL, React, Python, and Django.

UX design

Students enrolled in the UX program study UX design for 6 months and front-end development for another 6 months. In the first half, they learn about user research, wireframing, usability testing, and more. After finishing the first half, students write a case study, which forms the basis of their portfolios. The second portion of the course covers HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and React, as well as databases, Node.js, Bash, and Git.

If you are looking for a program with less of a time commitment, Kenzie Academy offers free online mini-courses that students can complete at their own pace. Designed by software engineers from top companies such as Google, LinkedIn, and Zillow, the curriculum covers HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Students learn through brief video tutorials and coding practice sessions.

Who is Kenzie Academy for?

People who are looking to learn the necessary skills to land a job as a software engineer or UX designer with front-end development skills from scratch could benefit from Kenzie Academy. As a full-time program, students with extensive life and work commitments outside of class might not be the best fit. Those looking to dip their toes in coding can check out Kenzie Free.

What does Kenzie Academy cost? How much work is involved?

Kenzie Academy offers a variety of financing options. Students can pay the full tuition upfront, which is $24,000. Those interested in a payment plan can pay $2,150 per month for 12 months. Students wishing to defer their payments can participate in Kenzie Academy’s income share agreement (ISA). The ISA option requires a $100 commitment fee before starting the program. Once students get a job that pays $40,000 or more per year, they pay 13% of their monthly income for 48 months or until they reach the payment cap, which is $41,825.

To apply, candidates fill out a brief application. Then, they have a 20-30 minute phone call with an admissions advisor to discuss their interest in the program. Next, candidates participate in a technical skills check. If the student passes, they are officially accepted.

Ratings and reviews

Reviews of Kenzie Academy generally praise the program for its organization, instruction, and the project-based curriculum. All 52 students on Career Karma who reviewed Kenzie Academy gave it 5/5 stars.

On CourseReport, students felt like the program prepared them to develop the necessary training to thrive in the tech industry. One student points out that there are “no long, drawn out lectures about arbitrary concepts that couldn’t possibly help you anywhere in life. Kenzie gets you in the habit of working, quite simply because they seem to be attempting to mimic a working environment.”

Similarly, one reviewer on SwitchUp enjoyed the “hands-on learning environment where you learn by doing”. They said, “you not only learn to code but you will also learn the soft skills needed”. Another grad echoes this, saying that “they welcome students from diverse backgrounds to learn useful skills in a meaningful way that will actually prepare you for the real world.”

Alternatives to Kenzie Academy

If you decide not to enroll in Kenzie Academy, you might consider one of the alternative bootcamps or online resources available below:

One of the most well known bootcamps is General Assembly. They offer full-time, part-time, and 1-day courses on a variety of topics like software engineering, data science, UX design, digital marketing, product management, and more. Read more about General Assembly in our review.
Like Kenzie Academy, Actualize provides a full-time bootcamp that can be taken online or in-person. The online option is also live, so remote students can follow along with their onsite peers.
GrowthX Academy is an online bootcamp with courses in growth marketing, UX design, and sales and business development.
Similarly, App Academy, Nucamp, T u ring, Launch Academy, and Hack Reactor offer in-person and online courses for aspiring software engineers.
In addition to full-time offerings, Covalence, Epicodus, and Galvanize have part-time software engineering courses for those who need a smaller time commitment.
Aspiring designers can consider Designlab. An online bootcamp, Designlab teaches the necessary skills to land a job as a UX designer. Read more about Designlab in our review.
Those who are interested in using an ISA to finance their software engineering bootcamp tuition can enroll in Lambda School or Holberton School.
Tech bootcamps and resources, Thinkful, Flatiron School, Fullstack Academy, Zip Code Wilmington, allWomen Academy, and Pluralsight offer courses in software engineering, UX design, and other topics.
Likewise, Prime Digital Academy and Perpetual Education have full-time and part-time courses in UX design and software engineering.
Aspiring software engineers and web developers can also consider CodeX Academy, a self-paced coding bootcamp with mentorship opportunities. Learn more about CodeX Academy in our review.

More alternatives

Students interested in taking online self-guided or instructor-led product design courses can check out DesignerUp. Learn more about DesignerUp in our review.
edX is one of the largest online learning platforms. They have courses from top universities like Harvard and MIT as well as big tech companies like Microsoft. Learn more about edX in our review.
You can also check out Udacity and Springboard. These are online learning tools that students can use to brush up on the basics or advance their current tech skills. Read more about Udacity and Springboard in our reviews.
Codecademy is one of the most popular coding programs online. They provide free courses on many different programming languages. They also offer membership options ranging from $20 to $40. Learn more about Codecademy in our review.
Another option is Grand Circus, which teaches courses on Java, front-end, and C# .NET. Their campuses are in Michigan, but they also offer online options.
Likewise, Tech Elevator and Redwood Code Academy are software engineering bootcamps with online and on-campus options.
You can also consider the design resources offered by Skillcrush, Learn UX,Bloc, Coursera, Treehouse, Interaction Design Foundation, Helio Training, V School, UX Design Institute, and Udemy.
SoloLearn, freeCodeCamp, and W3Schools are free online learning tools with tracks in Ruby on Rails, as well as other languages.
Students located in the Bay Area or looking to work in Silicon Valley can check out Tradecraft, which has tracks in product design, growth marketing, engineering, and sales.
UX Pro Academy, Design Sprint School, Avocademy, and Memorisely have UX design courses for beginners as well as more experienced people.

How does Kenzie Academy compare to Pathrise?

Kenzie Academy is a software engineering & UX design and front-end engineering bootcamp with online and in-person options. In addition to the course material, students get assistance with the job search process in a classroom setting, so they do not receive 1-on-1 mentorship.

Our mentors at Pathrise have years of experience on both sides of the hiring table and fellows receive 1-on-1 support every step of the way. We provide guidance on every component of the job search process, including resume and LinkedIn optimization, portfolio building, cold emailing and reverse recruiting strategies, technical and behavioral interviewing, and salary negotiation. The Pathrise ISA is just 5-9% of a fellow’s salary and we never require upfront payments or deposits.

The Pathrise program is flexible, requiring only 2-4 hours of sessions per week and 1-on-1 sessions with mentors can be scheduled as needed by fellows. All of our workshops are live, as well as recorded, so fellows can review previous material and keep learning.

Pathrise is a career accelerator that works with students and professionals 1-on-1 so they can land their dream job in tech. If you are interested in working with our mentors to optimize your job search, join Pathrise.