I think most people who would be considering bootcamps are comparing it to a traditional 4-year college curriculum -- at least I did. I enrolled in the full-time web program a few years back and this was the back-of-the-napkin math I used to make my decision:
Total Hours of College:
4 years, of which 2 years are "core" coursework and 2 years are general education.
2 Years * 2 semesters per year * 15 weeks per semester * 15 credit hours per week = 900 hours for a degree.
Lambda School:
6 months * 4 weeks per month * 40 hours per week = 960.
Obviously this doesn't account for a number of variables such as 0-credit "mandatory" labs, out-of-class work/projects/studying, but a Lambda student who spends an extra 5-10 hours per week during the program would end up with 1000-1200 total hours.
But this still ignores the main advantage of a program like Lambda, which is the ISA. An education that would be inaccessible to students at the margin -- think people who can't afford to move to a university, qualify for loans, or take 2+ years off of work -- can get in if they're committed enough. Even if Lambda were a total scam, at worst you're out 6 months and $0. If Local State University doesn't get you a job, you're out 4 years and $50k+.
Looks like you made a calculation error or misunderstood your units. A credit hour is 3 hours of work, as a credit hour is "(1) One hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out of class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester or trimester hour of credit, or ten to twelve weeks for one quarter hour of credit, or the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time"
So it's 2,700 hours for a 4-year degree, versus 960 hours in Lambda School, just using your method of calculation. It's also not counting the internships or summer programs that students in 4-year schools usually partake in. And it does not count extracurriculars during the schoolyear, like hackathons, interview preparation, programming competitions, student group projects, etc. Finally, you're assuming that an entire half of a college degree is geneds, which is really not the case. It's more like 1/4 geneds, 1/2 required major/concentration courses, 1/4 electives which many students opt to take technical courses in. So probably more like 3,200 (minimum) to 5,000 hours in a 4-year college.
General education courses do not take up half the course work. Moreover, you are suppose to spend 2-3 hours working out of class for every hour in class. You realize you have to study and do homework outside of class... No one considers a bootcamp to be comparable to an degree at a good university.
I have trouble getting students to concentrate on difficult material for anywhere near a whole class even if it's their only class of the day (and I'm considered a good and entertaining professor, honest). No WAY I could get anyone to concentrate on difficult material for 40 hours per week. I mean really no way, even if I were a teaching genius.
Learning difficult material means taking breaks and digesting stuff subconsciously.
Therefore, learning anything difficult takes a certain minimum of calendar time as well as hours in the classroom.
Total Hours of College: 4 years, of which 2 years are "core" coursework and 2 years are general education.
2 Years * 2 semesters per year * 15 weeks per semester * 15 credit hours per week = 900 hours for a degree.
Lambda School: 6 months * 4 weeks per month * 40 hours per week = 960.
Obviously this doesn't account for a number of variables such as 0-credit "mandatory" labs, out-of-class work/projects/studying, but a Lambda student who spends an extra 5-10 hours per week during the program would end up with 1000-1200 total hours.
But this still ignores the main advantage of a program like Lambda, which is the ISA. An education that would be inaccessible to students at the margin -- think people who can't afford to move to a university, qualify for loans, or take 2+ years off of work -- can get in if they're committed enough. Even if Lambda were a total scam, at worst you're out 6 months and $0. If Local State University doesn't get you a job, you're out 4 years and $50k+.