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  1. What We Do
  2. Predatory Lending & Private Credit
  3. Private Student Lending
  4. Bootcamps

Bootcamps

We are fighting to hold bootcamp operators accountable for years of mismanagement and abuse.

In the years after the Great Recession, students and workers who struggled to navigate a weak labor market were encouraged to “reskill”—learning computer science and other tech-adjacent skills to better compete for scarce jobs. Private companies seized on students’ and workers’ economic anxiety, marketing short-term, online “coding bootcamps” that offered certificates and other non-degree credentials and promised access to good-paying jobs in tech.

These bootcamp operators often worked in partnership with subprime private student lenders, driving students and workers deeply into debt with little to show for it. Students who attended these programs often struggled to find jobs in tech and many were victims of unaccredited training scams that offered no skills or expertise at all.

What We’re Doing

Bootcamp operators’ history of fraud, abuse, and unlawful conduct made them targets for public enforcement actions, private lawsuits, and congressional oversight. See below to learn more about our work to hold bootcamp operators and private lenders accountable.

Latest Work


  • Press Releases
    Jun 9, 2022

    Statement on Groundbreaking Washington State Lawsuit Against Scam Tech Sales Bootcamp Engaged in Predatory Student Lending Scheme Bootcamp

    Yesterday, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit against the disgraced online tech sales bootcamp Prehired, LLC and its founder, Joshua Jordan, for a startling array of illegal acts and practices.

    More


  • Press Releases
    Mar 3, 2022

    Watchdog Warns Students: Beware Risky New Loans By Tech Lenders for Dubious For-Profit Schools

    An SBPC review has identified more than 100 unaccredited and otherwise dubious for-profit schools that market point-of-sale financing such as BNPL credit as a variety of student loan.

    More


  • Blogs
    Feb 28, 2022

    A Predatory School is Dragging 290 Defrauded Students into Court in the Latest Example of the Exploitative State of the Income Share Agreement Market

    It is long past due for policymakers, regulators, law enforcement, and Congress to hold ISA providers and the bootcamps that rely on them accountable, and to protect borrowers from these predatory shams.

    More


  • Blogs
    Dec 23, 2021

    Protecting Borrowers in 2021 and Beyond

    t year, the SBPC fought to rewrite the rules for people with student debt. In a moment that demands sweeping change, we’ve made critical progress and will continue to work tirelessly to ensure families with student debt can prosper and to restore the promise of higher education as a gateway to the American Dream.

    More


  • Press Releases
    Dec 17, 2021

    Income Share Agreement Company and For-Profit School Sued for Deceptive Practices and Illegal Lending

    Two former students, with the support of the SBPC, filed lawsuits against a predatory online bootcamp scheme and a nationwide provider of ISAs, alleging widespread deceptive practices, illegal lending, and unlawful collection of student loans.

    More


  • News Clips
    Dec 17, 2021

    Tech Bootcamp Students are Suing Over Income-Share Agreements

    The former students allege they were misled to think they were applying for jobs and misled on the terms of the ISAs in order to join a 10-week online tech sales bootcamp for “sales development representatives.” But the lawsuits allege that the students did not learn much while being tracked into entry-level jobs that didn’t need training — and then faced harassment to pay back high debts

    More


  • Letters & Memos
    Sep 21, 2021

    Letters to Federal Regulators on Income Share Agreements

    In light of recent action by the CFPB to affirm that ISAs are a form of private student loan that must comply with all relevant state and federal consumer financial protections, the SBPC sent letters to a number of federal agencies highlighting the need for increased scrutiny of the ISA market.

    More


  • News Clips
    Sep 14, 2021

    The Curious Case of a Chameleon Zombie Coding School

    That promise fell apart over several weeks in July when the entire school seemingly unraveled: Make School was sued for allegedly selling predatory educational financing products to its early students, the school’s accreditation application was denied, financial backers apparently backed out, and students were absorbed by a separate school.

    More


  • Press Releases
    Sep 7, 2021

    Statement on CFPB Enforcement Action Against Income Share Agreement Provider Better Future Forward, Inc.

    Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced an enforcement action against a private student lender offering a risky kind of financial product known as an income share agreement (ISA), alleging that the company, Better Future Forward, Inc. was misleading consumers.

    More


  • Blogs
    Aug 19, 2021

    ED, the CFPB, and Borrowers Can All Hold School and Creditors Accountable for Predatory Lending Schemes

    Our new legal memo provides a roadmap to ensure that companies are held accountable for unlawful practices.

    More

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