IMO, the cost of living is the core problem with CS education programs like this. It's always been possible to teach yourself to code for free if you have a computer, Internet, and 40 hours a week to spend on practice. But who can afford to do that?
What these programs need most of all are cheap dormitories that offer room and board. (Close proximity to students can also help provide one another with a support network.)
100% agree being around other students would be a huge plus. I went to a school where I was surrounded by 40 other amateur programmers all driven towards building awesome products and writing quality code. Being in that environment is what made me obsessed with software.
There's actually a program called Make School that's pretty similar to this Lambda school, except they DO have student dorms and even offer a 2k/month living stipend in SF. Finding Make School on ProductHunt a few years ago was probably one of the highlights of my young adulthood.
A studio apartment in Oakland is $1,500 a month. There are already a bunch of great free resources to learn to code, including Codecademy, Coursera, Khan Academy, MIT OpenCourseware, and freeCodeCamp.
Right now, the people who need to learn to code need room and board, not yet another free coding school.
First, why live in Oakland? A lot of our students move to more friendly environments (read: cheaper) during that time.
There are a lot of great resources, no doubt, but those don't really compare to an in-person experience with an instructor and a school incentivized to take you all the way to hired.
The difference is that with Khan Academy, Coursera etc. you need self discipline. With Lambda you have a coach who expects you to be at your computer at 9am every weekday, and who has a strong financial incentive to ensure you learn.
Plus in time a Lambda qualification may become more respected by employers than a Coursera degree.
What these programs need most of all are cheap dormitories that offer room and board. (Close proximity to students can also help provide one another with a support network.)