App Academy also has no upfront payment. I hope that in the long run App Academy and Hacker School will be able to differentiate themselves from the hoard of somewhat scammy cash-up-front programs that seem to be popping up everywhere and churning out grads of dubious quality. By delaying payment and tying their compensation to student success, AA+HS are able to be very selective about who they admit which sets up a positive feedback in terms of student outcome and program reputation.
Some big red flags, in my opinion, about Omaha School web page as it currently stands:
-- Who is actually teaching this class from the crowd of mentors depicted? Are they competent/qualified and have they been respected/successful in their career up to this point? Why are they doing this? The "Who We Are" is currently just pictures and twitter links, which doesn't inspire confidence.
-- I see absolutely no information about outcomes for program grads. Industry average salaries doesn't mean squat, because people doing this bootcamp don't have the profile of the average junior dev with a CS degree and the knowledge/experience that entails. What is the average salary of a program grad and what kind of places are they working? What percent drop out? What percent are kicked out because they can't learn at the pace required? (Kicking people out occasionally is good and indicates there is some combination of rigor/expectation/structure.)
-- The application asks nothing of the applicant and emphasizes how low their expectations are. This signals desperation to me. And what's with the weird age buckets?