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University of Utah Professional Education Bootcamps review

Hi, I’m Elle! I work as a product designer at Getaround and as an industry mentor here at Pathrise. I help our fellows land great jobs in product design through technical workshops and 1-on-1s. Check out my review of University of Utah Professional Education Bootcamps.

What does University of Utah Professional Education Bootcamps do?

University of Utah Professional Education Bootcamps offers part-time courses to aspiring web developers and UX/UI designers. No prior experience is necessary. But, all students must complete self-paced pre-work before starting a course. While both remote and on-campus options are usually available, all courses are currently online in response to Covid-19.

Web dev

The 24-week part-time web development course teaches students the skills they need to launch a career as a full stack web developer. It meets two weekdays per week from 6:30pm to 9:30pm and on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm, plus about 20 hours of work outside of class. The curriculum includes live lectures, hands-on workshops, and projects. Students build full stack web apps using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Node.js, jQuery, and React.Js. In addition, the curriculum covers responsive design, Heroku, Git, MySQL, MongoDB, and more. Beyond building a fullstack portfolio website, students also work on real-world inspired homework assignments that follow Agile project management conventions.

UX/UI design

Students in the 24-week part-time UX/UI design course meet two weekdays per week from 6:30pm to 9:30pm and on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm. The course also requires about 20 hours per week of work outside of class for homework, projects, and self-study. The curriculum covers design principles, HTML/CSS, Adobe, Sketch, InVision, JavaScript, Bootstrap, Git/GitHub, and much more. Plus, students prototype and iterate their own designs to build user interfaces and user experience projects. The course culminates in a final group project. Students can add this work to their portfolios to help them become a UX designer.

Photo of University of Utah Professional Education Bootcamps

All University of Utah Professional Education Bootcamps include career services. Students participate in portfolio reviews, resume workshops, and mock interviews. Moreover, career coaches also work 1-on-1 with students to prepare them for the job search. After graduation students get access to optional continuation courses where they can review their tech skills, build their portfolios further, and even brush up on their interview skills. Graduates can also join the alumni Slack channel for further support. 

Who is University of Utah Professional Education Bootcamps for?

People with little to no experience in web dev or UX/UI design could benefit from University of Utah bootcamps. The program is especially helpful for people living in Utah as the curriculum is based on the most in-demand technologies in the Salt Lake City tech job market. Finally, the program could also be ideal for people seeking a hands-on learning experience with opportunities to build a portfolio.

What does University of Utah Professional Education Bootcamps cost? How much work is involved?

Tuition for any University of Utah bootcamp is $11,495. Students who register early or pay upfront receive a discount. In addition, monthly payment plans are available and University of Utah alumni get a $500 scholarship.

The admissions process begins with a short application or a call to the admissions office. Next, candidates participate in a behavioral interview over the phone. Then, select candidates move on to a critical thinking and problem-solving assessment. No coding or design experience is necessary.

Ratings and reviews

University of Utah Professional Education Bootcamps has mixed reviews. The program holds a 4.78/5 star rating on Course Report where it was listed as one of best Salt Lake City Coding Bootcamps of 2020. Many grads praise the program for its support and hands-on curriculum. A recent grad was impressed by her cohort’s staff, commenting “My primary instructor was fantastic and really made a difference to the class’s success.” Although she described the course as “fast-paced” and “challenging”, she still felt students were well supported, remarking that “free tutoring offered is extremely beneficial.”

But, a different grad was more critical of the bootcamp and its parent company, warning that the course “is run through Trilogy Education, not the University” and described their program as “disappointing” and poorly paced. The reviewer was also frustrated by the career services, warning that job support was “inconsistent” and that career coaches “didn’t always give relevant advice.”

A review on Quora pointed out that “the University of Utah brand” and “local connections with employers” could be especially helpful to students who plan to “stay local.” Although a grad on Reddit wished that the curriculum “dug into the syntax more heavily”, they still felt that the  bootcamp was highly “marketable” in the job search. Overall, students seem satisfied with the course’s supportive staff and hands-on learning, though some would have liked more job support and a pace that gave students more time to learn the technical concepts.

Alternatives to University of Utah Professional Education Bootcamps

If you decide not to enroll in University of Utah Professional Education Bootcamps, there are a number of alternative bootcamps and resources that can help aspiring web developers and UX designers.

  • Another Utah based bootcamp, DevPoint Labs offers an 11-week web development course that teaches students to build polished apps they can add to their portfolios. Students get access to networking events, career services, and even free housing.
  • The full-time tech bootcamp Kenzie Academy teaches in-person and online courses in 2 tracks: software engineering & UX design with front-end engineering. Similar to the courses at  University of Utah Bootcamps, Kenzie Academy’s curriculum is hands-on. Learn more about Kenzie Academy in our review.
  • Aspiring developers in Utah can also look into Helio Training, which teaches courses on web development and UX design. Like University of Utah, it also features career services.
  • UC Berkeley Bootcamps offers courses managed by the same parent company as University of Utah. Their pace and curriculum are similar, with the same project-based learning style and career services.
  • Aspiring web developers can check out CodeX Academy, a self-paced coding bootcamp with 1-on-1 mentorship opportunities. Learn more about CodeX Academy in our review.
  • Similarly, the popular bootcamp General Assembly offers full-time, part-time, and 1-day courses on a variety of topics like UX/UI design, front-end web development, data science, and software engineering. Read more about General Assembly in our review.
  • Aspiring designers can consider Designlab, a tech bootcamp that teaches students all the skills needed to launch a career as a UX designer. Read more about Designlab in our review.
  • Likewise, students interested in taking online self-guided or instructor-led product design courses can check out DesignerUp. Learn more about DesignerUp in our review.
More alternatives
  • Similarly, Bloc is an online program with courses in UX design and web dev. Like University of Utah’s bootcamps, their program includes many projects that students can add to their portfolios.
  • You can also check out Bubble no-code bootcamps to learn how to make products without coding. Learn more about Bubble in our review.
  • The well-known bootcamp BrainStation has tracks in UX/UI design, web development, and more. Their web development program boasts a 88% hiring rate.
  • However, for students seeking lower-cost web development and UX/UI courses, Simplilearn and Learn UX could be good options. While these programs may not have the same level of personalized support as smaller fast-paced bootcamps, they offer hundreds of courses to help students launch tech careers.
  • Students on a budget can consider Udemy, which has thousands of self-paced video courses on web dev, UX design, and much more. Classes are only about $10 each.
  • 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.
  • Students interested in university courses can also consider edX. They host self-paced courses from top schools like Harvard and MIT, and even big tech companies like Microsoft. Students can choose to learn the fundamentals or dive deeper into specific topics, like web development or UX design. Learn more about edX in our review.
  • Finally, the online educational resources Udacity and Springboard offer courses in web dev, UX design, and many other technical subjects. Learn more about Udacity and Springboard in our reviews.

How does University of Utah Professional Education Bootcamps compare to Pathrise?

University of Utah Professional Education Bootcamps offers courses for people interested in starting a new career as a web developer or UX/UI designer. Most students in the program have no experience or knowledge of the subject at all. On the other hand, Pathrise job-seekers should already have some background in their field to get the most out of the technical interview training. 

Pathrise is a career accelerator that optimizes the job search through 1-on-1 mentoring. Ours mentors help with all phases of the job search including resume & portfolio building, cold emailing & reverse recruiting strategies, behavioral interview preparation, salary negotiation, and more. 

Our flexible program features 2-4 hours of sessions per week and 1-on-1 sessions that can be scheduled as needed. All of our sessions are live and recorded, so fellows can review previous material and catch up whenever they want. The Pathrise income share agreement (ISA) means that fellows don’t pay until they land a job. We never require upfront payments or deposits.

Pathrise has helped 1,000+ students and professionals land great tech jobs. Fellows in our program see their interview scores double and their application responses triple. If you are interested in working with any of our mentors to land your dream job faster, join Pathrise. 

Apply today.

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Elle Chun

Elle Chun is an experienced Design professional helping Pathrise fellows to ace their technical interviews and succeed in their next design role.

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