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Launch HN: Lambda School (YC S17) – CS education that's free until you get a job

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Re: Launch HN: Lambda School (YC S17) – CS education that's free until you get a job

#21

Post by jedberg »

omalleyt wrote: post #6

Brilliant, I've long thought that all universities should run under this model (although when applied to the humanities I can hear in my head the 3000 years of the land owning, non-laboring intelligentsia protesting about the noble virtues of an education uncorrupted by the banalities of productive yada yada...) But anyway back to CS. 1) Risk is pooled in the institution rather than distributed amongst the students,…

>I've long thought that all universities should run under this model

I did too, until I though about it a bit more. You'd end up with Universities cutting all of their "non-profitable" majors, but those things still have some value to society.

Perhaps a hybrid model, where the "profitable" majors are free but you pay afterwards, and the unprofitable ones you pay up front.

Re: Launch HN: Lambda School (YC S17) – CS education that's free until you get a job

#22

Post by austenallred »

busterarm wrote: post #9
sigstoat wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i'm not affiliated, but like this model. > How do you know that your graduates are or aren't making more than 50k? How do you know that you're getting your 17%? you can ask students to fill out and sign, as a condition of admission, forms authorizing the IRS to hand over their tax returns, in advance. it wouldn't be very hard to contract with a law firm to take the results and check to see if they had more than 50k o…

This is essentially the same was what AppAcademy does, though they don't offer this to everyone across the board anymore (some groups have to prepay in full).

Also we're 100% online, so people don't have to move to San Francisco for 3+ months.

Re: Launch HN: Lambda School (YC S17) – CS education that's free until you get a job

#24

Post by omalleyt »

austenallred wrote: post #10
omalleyt wrote: post #6

Brilliant, I've long thought that all universities should run under this model (although when applied to the humanities I can hear in my head the 3000 years of the land owning, non-laboring intelligentsia protesting about the noble virtues of an education uncorrupted by the banalities of productive yada yada...) But anyway back to CS. 1) Risk is pooled in the institution rather than distributed amongst the students,…

Amen :) > The only thing I'd always questioned was whether such a scheme as described above could pass legal muster Income share agreements are all-but blessed, at least in the US, and in Australia they pretty closely mirror how most student loans work. > It bears a resemblance to involuntary servitude The concerns of indentured servitude go away when you realize each student can live or work or do whatever they'd li…

Awesome, that's great to hear. And I completely agree with your last paragraph, my concern (without knowing the relevant laws) was always just what a judge would hear. Really glad to see someone doing this

Re: Launch HN: Lambda School (YC S17) – CS education that's free until you get a job

#25

Post by austenallred »

icpmacdo wrote: post #19

Is the content your teaching currently openly available or are there plans to make it available in the future?

We have no immediate plans to do that, but honestly finding content isn't the hard part of learning for most people; there are some pretty great resources out there for free.

Re: Launch HN: Lambda School (YC S17) – CS education that's free until you get a job

#26

Post by austenallred »

sant_176 wrote: post #20
sigstoat wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i'm not affiliated, but like this model. > How do you know that your graduates are or aren't making more than 50k? How do you know that you're getting your 17%? you can ask students to fill out and sign, as a condition of admission, forms authorizing the IRS to hand over their tax returns, in advance. it wouldn't be very hard to contract with a law firm to take the results and check to see if they had more than 50k o…

Could you please tell me whether its applicable in India or any other counties or not?

We're working to figure that out, but first we'll start servicing more of the US applicants we have (we can only teach a tiny, tiny fraction of the willing students at this point).

Re: Launch HN: Lambda School (YC S17) – CS education that's free until you get a job

#27

Post by omalleyt »

jedberg wrote: post #21
omalleyt wrote: post #6

Brilliant, I've long thought that all universities should run under this model (although when applied to the humanities I can hear in my head the 3000 years of the land owning, non-laboring intelligentsia protesting about the noble virtues of an education uncorrupted by the banalities of productive yada yada...) But anyway back to CS. 1) Risk is pooled in the institution rather than distributed amongst the students,…

>I've long thought that all universities should run under this model I did too, until I though about it a bit more. You'd end up with Universities cutting all of their "non-profitable" majors, but those things still have some value to society. Perhaps a hybrid model, where the "profitable" majors are free but you pay afterwards, and the unprofitable ones you pay up front.

Sure, I'd be good with that. I also think that if there are some things that are non-profitable but still valuable to society (and no doubt, there are), then the problem is really that the agent isn't capturing enough of the value they are creating for society, and society ought to find an incentive mechanism that changes that. But since we live in a practical world and that is an impractical demand, I agree a hybrid model would be beneficial

Re: Launch HN: Lambda School (YC S17) – CS education that's free until you get a job

#29

Post by mkagenius »

austenallred wrote: post #3
jbob2000 wrote: post #2

How do you know that your graduates are or aren't making more than 50k? How do you know that you're getting your 17%? Aside from that, you're essentially giving your students a loan and then having them repay it once they start earning money. How is this any different than a regular student loan (but with way more risk on your end)?

> How do you know that your graduates are or aren't making more than 50k? Great question. In addition to our income share agreement, each student submits a form to the IRS that will essentially copy us on their taxes. We have annual reconciliation based on those numbers to see if they match a student's self-reported numbers. > You're essentially giving your students a loan and then having them repay it once they star…

If that's a step function, then people would be happy earning $49,999 than $60k (and may even try to negotiate with the employer to reduce the salary)

Re: Launch HN: Lambda School (YC S17) – CS education that's free until you get a job

#30

Post by dfabulich »

IMO, the cost of living is the core problem with CS education programs like this. It's always been possible to teach yourself to code for free if you have a computer, Internet, and 40 hours a week to spend on practice. But who can afford to do that?

What these programs need most of all are cheap dormitories that offer room and board. (Close proximity to students can also help provide one another with a support network.)

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