Advocacy Group Urges U. of California to Do Away With Boot Camps Run by OPMs

The University of California system took steps this year to restrict students’ ability to take fully online degree programs, but now an advocacy group is calling for further action: “banning online nondegree courses such as vocational-training boot camps.”

A letter sent this week by the Student Borrower Protection Center and signed by five University of California faculty members alleges that “these online certificate programs rarely leave students with the skills necessary to earn enough to pay off the debts they accrue in pursuit of their education.”

A university spokesperson confirmed the letter had been received by the system’s Office of the President “and will be reviewed in the order it was received. We look forward to following up with its authors, should their letter warrant further engagement.”

Boot camps, many of which specialize in computer coding, have teamed up with prestigious universities across the country, marketing the courses to students who want to enter the tech sector and splitting the revenue with the colleges. But some students who enroll have said they felt misled into believing the university operated the programs.

The programs are instead typically run by for-profit online-program managers, though the partner colleges provide some level of oversight.

Last month The Chronicle reported on some students’ complaints about the nation’s largest provider of college-affiliated boot camps, 2U. The company strongly defended its programs, saying that colleges conduct vigorous oversight, that many graduates report satisfaction with their experiences, and that the programs are clearly labeled in marketing materials as run by 2U.

A 2U representative could not immediately be reached for comment.

According to the California letter, online boot camps are offered by at least seven of the system’s 10 campuses.