LaunchSchool: An online school for Software Engineers

The Slow Path for Studious Learners to a Career in Software Development

Structured Curriculum from First Principles

Our program is about slowly building up mastery of fundamentals, so you understand how higher level abstractions truly work from the bottom up. Our goal isn't to teach you how to use React or Rails, but to show you how to construct accurate mental representations of first principles in order to tackle fundamental engineering problems. Our goal isn't to help you find a job, but help you launch a career. Our goal isn't to teach you to code, but to teach you how to deconstruct and problem solve like an engineer.

By Software Engineers for Future Software Engineers

Launch School was founded by experienced software engineers. We know what it takes to not only break into software, but to build and grow a career as an engineer in the software industry. Our objective is to increase your lifetime earnings by millions of dollars. This is what makes Launch School unique and why we focus on the long-term results of a career. Our curriculum was created by software engineers for future software engineers — you.

Mastery-based learning has legitimately changed my life. Prior to coming to Launch School, I had this idea that I was only meant to do things I was immediately good at. I felt like if I struggled, or it didn't come naturally it meant I wasn't good at it. What I have learned through mastery-based learning and taking my time to learn fundamentals is that is not true. Being natural at something is helpful, but not necessary.
Kimberly Ramirez
I really appreciate the way the curriculum is designed - the self-paced modules are designed in a way that introduces new material, provides ample practice opportunity, and reinforces previously learned material. As someone who has spent many years working in education I have to say I am very impressed with the way your curriculum shepherds students through such a difficult discipline.
Tony Kovatch
I was given a lead position and a team for a major, logistically complex project our company received, despite not having experience in the domain itself. The first two weeks of the project were me wrangling everyone together for both explicit and implicit PEDAC sessions. Due to the discovery, planning and attitude-setting that came from those sessions our project came in under-time, on-budget, and with great praise from our client (the federal government).
Alexander Drover
The biggest achievement for me from this program was gaining confidence in myself and my capabilities while also giving me a an identity. Before starting this program, I felt that my identity was lost, but this amazing program has not only given me the tools to learn the fundamentals of programming, but has also given me an identity. I am excited to see what lies ahead!
Esther Kim
Overall, I thought the Core program was great! My confidence has gone up a lot since starting Core. I remember trying to read the documentation for Python and a few libraries and frameworks prior to Core and getting completely overwhelmed, but now I look at documentation and it's significantly more manageable.
Adam Trotta
Whenever I take a chance on Stack Overflow to help me understand something, I'm often surprised at how little others understand at a fundamentals level, and how much people rely on resources like SO for the most basic information. I typically end up feeling like I'd rather just go to the docs. So grateful to LS for giving me the confidence to go get the information I need from the right place.
Wendy Kuhn
"We're one of the oldest and largest coding schools in the world."

Our Learning Goals

The key to unlocking higher level understanding and skills that last a career is focusing on fundamentals. We designed our curriculum with the following learning goals.

  • Fundamentals first, fundamentals throughout
  • A focus on learning things that don't change
  • Learn slowly and deliberately
  • Learn to be proficient, not just build awareness
  • Learn to understand problems, not solutions
  • Learn in a circular fashion

Our students love us, and if you are committed to building a career in software development, you will too

  • Sienna Wood
    Denver
    Software Engineer

    Experts always return to fundamentals because they are the foundation on which everything else is built. Launch School’s core program embodies this principle by emphasizing mastery of fundamentals through purposeful individual study.

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  • Steve Kolock
    New York
    Front-end Developer

    I got a different role making significantly more than twice what I had been making as a 'web specialist', putting me firmly in six-figure

    READ MORE
  • Letladi Sebesho
    Johannesburg, South Africa
    Full Stack Developer at Co-Foundy

    This programme opened possibilities for me that would have taken me years to reach

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  • Sunny Beatteay
    New York City
    Software Engineer

    From the first glance, it was apparent that Launch School had been founded by industry veterans. I have never encountered a curriculum more in-depth and rigorous

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A Serious Training Curriculum That's Designed to Launch a Career

Core Curriculum

Mastery of Fundamentals

Capstone

Launch Your Career

Complete the Core Curriculum courses and pass their assessments, and you'll have mastered the fundamentals. Participate in our Capstone Program, and you'll launch a career.

The Proof is in the Results

The average starting salary for 2024 Capstone graduates is

$115,766

(See Results & Outcomes for more details.)

Our graduates have been hired by industry leading companies and some of the most competitive startups

Start our preparatory courses now for free. When you're ready for the real courses, it's just

$199/month

Continue reading about how our pedagogy works and why we're able to produce such amazing results. This is how we're different. You should really read this.

Our Pedagogy