Lambda School is located in Silicon Valley, California. However, all of our classes take place entirely online. Various cities have local meetups and gatherings. Students do not work out of our offices, and can take classes from anywhere. You must be a US, EU, or UK resident to attend.

No. The most important aspects of Lambda School happen in small, interactive groups, and require full attendance for all hours of the class. Although we do record and archive all of our lectures, the lectures alone are not what makes Lambda School great.

Lambda School does have some part-time programs that may work better for those that have jobs or are working.

No, we don't control where you work. Since developers tend to get raises fairly quickly, we do recommend not over optimizing your job search and getting a job as fast as possible.

We do everything we possibly can! We have a full team dedicated to career development. They help you prepare a resume and portfolio, practice interviews, and even help you in salary negotiation. At the end of the day though, you're the one who needs to apply, interview, and land the job.

The income share agreement has no interest. It's a flat percentage that goes away once you've reached the $30k payment cap, you've made 24 payments, or five years has passed since you graduated (even if you haven't paid us anything).

You'll pay a percentage of your gross salary (before taxes).

Minimum
1.6 GHz Processor
4 GB RAM
120 GB Hard Drive
Web Cam
Microphone
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Recommended
2 GHz Processor
8 GB RAM
256 GB Hard Drive (preferably solid state)
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Recommended operating systems (in descending order): macOS, Windows 10, Ubuntu

Other versions of Windows work but students should anticipate occasional environment issues. Chromebooks are not supported, as coursework involves installing and running software locally.

For the iOS course, the computer specs are different, as iOS development requires a Mac.

Minimum
128 GB SSD (or Fusion Drive)8 GB of RAM
macOS Mojave 10.14, which is supported on the following:
• MacBook (Early 2015 or newer)
• MacBook Air (Mid 2012 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 or newer)
• Mac mini (Late 2012 or newer)
• iMac (Late 2012 or newer)iMac Pro (2017)
• Mac Pro (Mid 2010, Mid 2012, and Late 2013)
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Recommended
2 GHz Processor
256 GB SSD

An ISA is a way to pay your Lambda School tuition. A Lambda School ISA is a contract under which you agree to pay 17% of your post-Lambda School salary for 24 months, but only once you're making more than $50,000 per year (or the equivalent of $4,166.66 per month). The ISA is capped at a maximum repayment of $30,000, so you won’t pay more than $30,000 under any circumstances.

This is our way of investing in you. We select students we believe will be successful, and cover your tuition until you're in a financial position to pay us back.

Lambda School tuition is $30,000. You can elect to pay upfront or via an ISA.
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Because ISA payments are based on income and the maximum number of monthly payments is 24, any one student who elects to use an ISA might pay less than the full $30,000 tuition of Lambda School.  
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If you do not land a high paying job, you do not pay Lambda School anything. If you land a high-paying job, the most you will pay is $30,000.  
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If you use an ISA, depending on your income after completing your Lambda School program, you will pay somewhere between $0 and $30,000, in 24 monthly payments based on your income. 
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After you reach the payment cap or complete your 24th monthly payment, you are free of obligation under the ISA.

For example, if you get a job paying $60,000/year, you’re earning $5,000 per month. 17% of $5,000 is $850, so you pay $850 that month for your ISA. You make 17% payments on your income every month until you’ve made 24 monthly payments.  The total amount you will pay is $20,400.     
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Below is a chart illustrating the total amount you will pay under the ISA payment option in various earning scenarios.  

Yes, you can see a template we use here.

ISAs are not loans so they have no interest.

The 17% is a percentage of your gross income, i.e. before taxes.

Your ISA payments start when you’re earning $50,000 a year (that’s $4,166 a month). If you do not make more than $4,166 a month, the ISA automatically expires after 60 such deferred-payment months.

Leif is a third party provider who services the ISA on behalf of Lambda School in the United States.

The Income Share Agreement requires you to report your job status and income to Leif, our ISA servicing partner.

You’ll report your income and your job status through your account with Leif. Leif also provides customer support to answer more detailed questions.

The Income Share Agreement requires you to submit your tax returns to Leif. That said, we’re only interested in your personal income. If you provide documentation of your spouse’s income, it won’t be included.

We reduce the total obligation for people who leave Lambda School, based on completion of sprints. For full-time students, a sprint is one week long. For part-time students, a sprint is two weeks long.  
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The timing for when your tuition and/or ISA may be canceled completely, versus pro-rated, versus fully due may vary by state depending on the rules in your state. Please see your Enrollment Agreement for the most up-to-date information. In every state, you can cancel your ISA within 4 weeks of your cohort start date.

Yes. On the admissions application, there’s a box to check to tell us you’d like to pay upfront, instead of signing an ISA. You can make this election up until the first day of classes.

Income Share Agreements are available to people who live in the US who are US Citizens, US Permanent Residents, or DACA recipients.
Other people can still attend Lambda School by paying the tuition upfront.
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Almost all courses are taught on Pacific time so it's important to think about how you will adjust according to your time zone.

No. Our ISA requires that you sign no other ISAs. (Also we want to make sure you get a job, not go on to more school.)

Payments are collected on the 1st of the month, and Leif gives a 28-day starting grace period to Lambda Students.

ISA eligibility is not determined on the basis of prior income, sex, race, sexual orientation, religion, national origin or protected class. There are certain minimum requirements to be eligible for an ISA. For example, ISAs are only available to people who live in the US who are US Citizens, US Permanent Residents, or DACA recipients. ISAs are also not available to individuals who already have an obligation to pay under an ISA with another institution.

To enroll, you’ll sign an Enrollment Agreement with Lambda School that lays out the basics of the program you’ll take as well as key items to know. If you elect the ISA option, you’ll also sign an income share agreement contract prior to starting at Lambda School.

You’ll find the upcoming start dates for each course on our application page: https://lambdaschool.com/apply/

We offer part time courses for most of our tracks:

Part-Time Schedule
Monday-Thursday 6 pm to 9 pm PST
Plus your choice of either Friday 6-9pm, Saturday 9-12pm or Sunday 6-9pm

Secondary Part-Time Schedule
(currently offered for Web Development only, every other cohort)
Monday-Thursday 4 pm to 7 pm PST
Plus your choice of either Friday  4-7pm, Saturday 9-12pm or Sunday 4-7pm

Students must attend 95% of course hours. Live instruction and real time interaction with classmates is an integral part of learning at Lambda School. Missing class isn’t an option.

If all looks well with your application you should receive an email from our admissions team within 4-5 business days.

Make sure to check your spam folder as often our first email finds its way there!

Students are allowed on a case-by-case basis to switch to a different course within the first two units of the course, or 8 sprints. In order to switch to a new course, you must go through the standard acceptance process including satisfactory completion of all pre-course work.  Students are allowed to switch courses once.
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Switching between full-time and part-time within the same course may be approved on a case by case basis and will not affect the terms of your ISA.

After we've run a few iterations of the full time course, we may decide to offer a part time track depending on the level of interest. Be sure to check back on our application page.

Intro course videos are posted to our YouTube channel.

Our Prep Slack is the best place to find information, guidance, and support for all things related to the intro courses. Ask your question there and an instructor, PM, or fellow classmate will help you out.

Please visit https://lambdaschool.com/shift to learn about the program, including an FAQ section at the bottom of the page. If you have additional questions, email:  pathways@shift.org or send a text to 205-557-4935.