2023 was a difficult year for coding schools like Epicodus. While the rest of the economy and other job sectors grew, tech industry headlines were dominated by news of layoffs and losses, and enrollment in schools like ours dropped. We adjusted to a smaller student body over the past few months, but we were unprepared for what happened this week. Our January 2024 class’s enrollment was less than a quarter the size of January 2023 – and our January classes have typically been the biggest of each year.
To make a long story short, we don’t have the money to keep our school running in these difficult times, and it would be reckless for us to gamble that enrollment turns around shortly. We’ve made the painful decision to cancel the classes that were supposed to start this week, as well as a part-time class that started in October and was scheduled to run until November of this year. These students organized their lives around enrolling at Epicodus, and words can’t express how terrible we feel about forcing them to change their plans. We’re working to find other schools where they can get the education they expected and make the career change they were looking for.
For our other students who are further along in their classwork, we’ll finish teaching their classes, including career services, with the same quality of education that they’ve had until this point. After they graduate, we’ll provide job-seeking support to set them up for a new career as best as we can. And of course, we’ll continue supporting our students who have already graduated in their job search.
Right now, we’re focusing all of our time on navigating this difficult situation and especially supporting our students through it. We turned 10 years old last year, and when the dust settles a little bit, we’ll take some time to reflect on and share what we’ve accomplished and learned. Thank you to all of the wonderful students we’ve had, the incredible staff who have worked with us, and all of the people in our communities who have supported Epicodus and our mission.