In my experience, the worst CS grads are worse than the worst bootcamp grads, but the best CS grads are better than the best bootcamp grads. Bootcamps self-sel

In my experience, the worst CS grads are worse than the worst bootcamp grads, but the best CS grads are better than the best bootcamp grads. Bootcamps self-select for people who actually tend to have some interest, and force them to learn to graduate. So all bootcamp grads (or at least those from decent bootcamps) learn a decent amount during the bootcamp. University often gets people who are just there for the degree. When I was in university I marked for many classes, and also helped students, and there are many people who simply have no interest in the material and do not learn a thing. They can still graduate by doing the minimum amount of prep for tests, relying on others for projects and assignments, and cheating. However, university is also a 4 year long process where you can choose to take challenging courses in a variety of subjects, pursue cutting-edge research projects, and do whatever else you want in your free time. A motivated university student can graduate with not only what they learned in class, but accumulated knowledge from the books they read, courses they took, and projects they worked on outside of class. Plus a deep understanding of all the theory and such covered in class. Which isn't to say they're better in any sort of judgemental sense - give a bootcamp grad another 3.5 years purely dedicated to learning, and they'd be just as capable. Unfortunately, relatively few people actually make the most of their time in university, or even come close. (At least, in terms of learning - perhaps they value other things more, which is fine, but we're speaking of employable skills.) Maybe 10% of students at my university graduated with a level of skill equal to or better than a motivated bootcamp grad.