I think the main thing for coding boot camps is twofold. 1) The good ones have high character requirements, as in they select for the people who are self-drive

I think the main thing for coding boot camps is twofold. 1) The good ones have high character requirements, as in they select for the people who are self-driven and willing to put in the work. That self-selects for success, especially since the most famous code academies have more candidates than spots, which means they can be selective. 2) Simply by paying a large sum of money (10k+), which is generally a large sum of money for the applicants, incentivizes the people to actually put in effort to do the work and study. MIT gives away all of its courses free online, and the pass rate is abysmal, precisely because it's free and the entry cost is so low, that you feel as though you can walk away at any time. I personally think that coding boot camp vs. a four year university education is like learning how to cook in a chain restaurant vs. learning how to cook at a culinary institute. You'll get the same basic (very basic) skills, such as knowledge on how to chop a vegetable, how to debone a chicken, etc etc. However the reasons for doing things and terminology in the kitchen you'll have to learn by yourself. Is going to college for four years worth it vs a 12 month boot camp? I don't know, but I think it's naive to think that the knowledge imparted is the same between the coding camp vs the four year degree.