Disclosure: I'm not a Udacity employee, but I am a fan and a MOOC supporter (since I only program professionally because I learned through them + books). Only say this because I'm about to be pretty defensive of Udacity.

1) Not all new nanodegrees use the new pricing model. So far, only the more rigorous ones announced do: Self Driving Car Engineer & AI Engineer. The new VR one is the same monthly model. All existing courses are the monthly model, for now.

2) The monthly ones offer a 50% back offer. If you finish within a year, you get half your tuition back, so $100 for every month it took. To be fair, they could stop this at any time, but it was supposed to only last a few months, but they've been doing it since early last year.

3) Per their terms, to graduate, you must complete all projects and pay at least one month of tuition which is $200 in the US. With the half back offer, this becomes $100 if you finish in the first month + 7 day trial. The article quotes $400

4) Most of the courses are free to take.

5) Some of the degrees offer a job guarantee if you pay a bit more.

6) The content is damn good quality, from what I've been exposed to. Google people teach Android classes, Nvidia people teach graphics, MongoDB people tech MongoDB. At the very least, the quality is more consistent than other MOOC platforms.

I might have went overboard O.O

I see the current MOOC divided into 4 styles:

- if you want academic rigor, you take edX and to some extent Coursera

- if you want to learn something between academic and practical you never did before while working full time, you take Coursera courses

- if you want to train yourself on some of the latest trends, you take Udacity

- everything else that is outside big companies/academia you seek on Udemy and similar platforms

I am happy with all these, I initially spent most of my learning time on Coursera, then moved mostly to edX for big-name university curriculum and now I am taking Udacity's self-driving car nanodegree and maybe later AI nanodegree if I get in.

You simply need to choose what you want and then look at the appropriate platform. I am very happy we have now different shades of a good thing and I applaud to all people making this possible! Big thanks!

To be brutally honest, I've been pretty unimpressed with Udacity - specifically, their Deep Learning and AI for Robotics courses. I personally felt the quality of the content was low enough that I could not justify paying for something larger, like their Self-Driving Car Nanodegree (which I was accepted to for their first run, but I ultimately declined to shell out $2,400 USD because of the quality issues I observed in those other classes).

Compared to some of the courses I've taken on Coursera (e.g. Andrew Ng's Machine Learning), the general quality from Coursera blew Udacity out of the water.

End of the day, I'm not going to pay for content that is poorly stitched together, contradictory, constantly interrupting you, short on delivering insightful explanations and simply unclear in many places. I'm not going to pay to waste my time on forums to tease out information for solving quizzes / programming challenges that should have been covered in the course content. I'm not going to pay to deal with snarky TA's on a power trip. I'm not going to pay to waste my time because the course quizzes or programming assignments are expecting you to magically gain some insight that could not be reasonably attained by viewing the course content only.

And I'm not saying these courses should necessarily be easy - not at all - but there should be some reasonable level of success attainable without having to endlessly scour the internet for why your solution, which looks pretty correct based on the course material, isn't passing in their test harness - only to learn that the author of the course decided to arbitrarily switch the order of two operations in his solution (that were previously demonstrated over and over in the reverse order), and that's why your submission is failing. Sorry, but screw that.

Not worth my time, not worth my money. And to anyone else about to shell out a large chunk of cash to Udacity - think long and hard before you do - there are likely better options out there.

Original Udacity was a competitor to Coursera and EdX. Current Udacity is not in that domain. It provides very specific technical training designed in consultation and funding with specific companies for skills that they need. Said companies then hire the top students in the classes. The classes work as a sort of technical screening.

Not sure this is comparable to ITT Tech, which charged a lot of money for useless degrees.

This said, many of the early Udacity classes are quite useful for general skills. Quality varies though and one problem they had was not updating content in reaction to feedback, not correcting either errors or areas that were unclear. These issues are somewhat irrelevant in their current targeted domain in which one either is able to pick it up with the training offered and get the job or not.

Udacity was an essential tool when I was working to get my first job as a developer, specifically the Intro to Web Development course taught by Steve Huffman. But its effectiveness came because it gave me the tools to go on and build projects in my free time; those are what I showed to potential employers, not the certificate I received from taking a (then) free online course.

As far as I'm concerned, that's the key metric for education in a field like software development where students build projects to show to a potential employer: do graduates have the knowledge needed that they can go out and build projects that will get them hired, without naming where they acquired the knowledge. If you succeed in that for long enough, then the value of the brand name will develop naturally. Udacity still appears to be quite strong in what matters most, actually educating students, regardless of their marketing materials, which is where ITT Tech failed.

I've never been involved with Udacity or any for-profit schools.

But, its remarkable how much that ad feels like a University of Phoenix ad. Most for-profit school ads seem to push flexibility and future job earnings. University of Phoenix (and Udacity) go for a much subtler route for the TV ads I've seen. They glamorize the ending jobs and the college-student/professional lifestyle.

In my mind, the worst for-profit schools suffer from two distinct issues: bad instruction and bad credentialing. Udacity supposedly has fixed the instruction problem with strong industry ties. But, they haven't fixed the credentialing problem. A Udacity nanodegree is still worth very little, if anything, compared to any other form of education.

I used to work at Udacity so I'm pretty biased, but I will say that the concern here seems pretty misplaced.

"The reality is that the for profit school’s only goal was to make money for their investors. It doesn’t matter if the students are not able to find jobs in their field. It doesn’t matter if most students work dead end jobs waiting for a tech job that never arrives."

While it's not true for all programs, Udacity's nanodegree+ offers a full refund unless you can find a job.

There are perfectly valid concerns about the quality of the job.

Having said that, the even bigger and more fundamental difference between Udacity and ITT is that the vast majority of Udacity material is available for free online. Aside from the credential, what you're really paying for is personal feedback on projects. Because Udacity has to pay actual qualified engineers to give that feedback, it's appropriately expensive.

The title is inflammatory. This article is based entirely on how he feels from a 30 second commercial and his experience with ITT Tech. It has nothing to do with his Udacity experience.

Unlike ITT Tech or any other for-profit universities, you can do a majority of the Udacity curriculum for free. e.g For the VR Nanodegree (shown in the video), you can signup for the courses for free [1] and evaluate it whether the format/quality works for you. And like any other content provider, some courses might not be good as others.

I am currently doing Udacity's Machine Learning Nanodegree [2] and also did the first AI class from Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig. Part of the Nanodegree involves doing courses from Georgia Tech's Masters in Computer Science curriculum.

[1] https://www.udacity.com/course/vr-software-development--ud10... [2] https://www.udacity.com/uconnect/intensive

I think it's not. First thing people tend to forget is that aside from then nano degrees, they offer a master of science in computer science degree from Georgia Tech (a top 10 CS graduate school) for about $7,000. Sebastian Thrun, Udacity's CEO and founder, ex google VP (developed their self driving car project) and a Stanford professor, initiated it, AT&T donated money and Zvi Galil (college of computing dean) and the GT faculty took the challenge and built it with Udacity's assistance. There are already several graduates, and evidence shows the rigor is ad high as on campus.

It just can't be compared to ITT without having in mind they enabled the world best "ranking to cost" ratio program in the world in my opinion. Source: I'm a GT OMSCS student.

I really used to love Udacity, but at some point their constant mini-quizzes just drove me nuts. Totally broke my flow.

I prefer the Pluralsight approach. Quickly going through some Pluralsight courses has really broadened my toolset.

I prefer to think of MOOCS as a way to augment what you learn via traditionally methods as opposed to replacing traditional education entirely.

I decided to start searching for Udacity training and certificates after hearing the Udacity CEO speak at Google I/O in 2015. I have been extremely happy with that decision as I've found software developers that were knowledgeable, intelligent and intellectually curious. I did also go through an interview and learning/onboarding process but I would judge the Udacity by the outcomes and not the inputs or appearance of the ads.

I just want to remind the people that the original business model of Udacity (and Coursera) was something different:

Udacity/Coursera wanted to offer the courses for free. It is a fact that employers are searching for employees who are smart, self-determined and love to learn new, complicated things on their own. So they wanted to make money from making their database of learners with their list of completed courses etc. available to employers/recruiters etc. for pay.

If it had worked out, I must say that it would in my opinion not have been a bad idea.

P.S.: Different topic, related business model: I am still waiting for a postmortem on Stockfighter: https://twitter.com/tqbf/status/771533037666390017

I've heard a lot of positive reviews of Udacity's courses, but I wonder if those come from people's bias after sinking a lot of money and time into it. Has anyone done a nanodegree on their employer's dime (regular wage plus tuition)? What did you think?

I wonder what a video like this does for the first impression from an employer's point of view.

ITT Tech was viewed as cheap because their commercials played in the cheapest time slots, alongside adult hotlines and As Seen on TV ads.

If an employer had never heard of Udacity and did research from scratch, they might like what they see. If they recognize it as one of those commercials that play in the middle of the night, they might just skip right over the resume.

I was interested in pursuing a new field at Western Governors University after reading comments on sites like this and Reddit where a couple people said "I happily hire WGU grads because I know they put real work in". Then, I saw one of their commercials play on Comedy Central at 2 AM, and it immediately stopped those plans for me. You can't take anything seriously when it airs after this: http://www.perfectsmileteeth.com/

I strongly feel that Udacity has HUGE potential and the recent TV ad is quite inspiring.

- From student's perspective, it can't get better than this - learning from the top instructors in the world at a very low price. Learning AI at a fraction of the cost.

- From employer's perspective - I have hired more than 50 engineers both at startups and at world's biggest company. I would definitely value people with a nano-degree from Udacity over a course that they studied a decade ago in the college. The students from Udacity have more practical knowledge and understand the latest concepts.

In my viewpoint, the biggest potential is the reach - people from all over the world can learn advanced technologies like Self-driving cars. Who could have imagined this few years ago!

I am positive that companies worldwide would LOVE to interview candidates who have studied at Udacity.

Back in 2013 when I first discovered MOOCs, Udacity was more like Coursera and edX in that they had mostly traditional CS and Math courses.

Now, in the catalog, the various Nanodegrees appear before any individual course. But if you scroll down, you'll see they still offer the old courses in topics like Programming Languages, Theoretical CS, and Differential Equations.

Personally, I'm not in a rush to find employment, and am deliberately focusing on edX in order to prepare for a Masters. I took MIT's Intro to Programming with Python, and am now in Software Construction with Java. Both feel like timeless courses teaching principles applicable to any language or environment. Do Udacity Nanodegrees similarly teach transferable skills?

I'm usually quite good keeping track of TLA's but it's late and I've drawn a blank on what ITT stands for. Wikipedia is being no help: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITT

Anyone?

(PS - I'm not ashamed to ask. I think it's a tiny public service to ask the meaning of an acronym as it reminds everyone else that these aren't necessarily universally understood even in our own little tech bubble)

Just watch the Udacity add from 2016. Besides the price tag on that video (paid from students money), most scenes look more like science fiction than the reality of what we achieve with the jobs we do! It's business as usual.

The problem with courses is not only money, it is also valuable time spend. Another issue is that Courses often tend to give you the false impression that you master something once you've completed it. There is always that difference between selling a course and what students actually gain.

Why not spend your time to become a better autodidact, and use this vast free resource called the internet? Maybe it's just me, but I really don't want to depend on paid courses.

Genuine. That is the one word that comes to mind if I was asked to summarize my experience as a student with Udacity over the past 16 months.

I have been working in the technology industry for several years now. If your goal is to work in the tech space, then it’s especially important to commit to lifelong learning. Working thru various Udacity courses has refreshed long dormant forgotten facts from university days. In addition, I have gained new skills and knowledge which to further build upon. But the one aspect I think I value the most is the interaction with the other Udacity students, project reviewers and Udacity instructors. Each person brings a unique composite of varying experience which has broadened my perspective. I realized I lived in a bubble and my bubble was very small. The bubble is still there today, but witnessing some of the transparency coming from Udacity has helped my bubble to grow.

Up front cost is a valid concern for a student. I applaud Udacity for keeping education available at zero cost. I can't even imagine the effort involved in behind the scenes to compose educational material for a global audience. Further, to make that material available on a global scale all while trying to balance a pertinent curriculum with changes in the fast-moving technology sector.

For the perspective student, I would advise caution when reading some of the marketing material from Udacity. I view it as "marketing speak". I personally find some of the "guarantee job" promo's distasteful. But I do not view it at the same level as say a typical twitter stream or a politician running for office promising everything under the sun if only "you elect me!".

I have had some negative experiences while enrolled with Udacity. I do recall having a beef during the rollout of the new classroom that occurred earlier this year. But that’s an execution aspect and executing at 100% is a tough bar to maintain. If only I maintained my New Year’s resolutions 100% of the time ;)

The one thing I can say, unequivocally, is the genuine sincerity of the people that work at and with Udacity. I do believe they sincerely care for a student’s success. Where that success bar lies are going to be unique for each person and as such, the road to that success will vary and of course change with time.

From what I've seen, Udacity's classes are of the utmost quality. I don't have any experience with ITT Tech, but I always got the impression the class material was lacking in quality.

I'm a fan of MOOC's in general (at least as a concept), and support them charging for things like nanodegrees, in theory. While I do agree that the commercial is eerily similar in tone to the ITT Tech ads most of us remember, $2400 for a nanodegree is much cheaper. Further, so long as they continue to not be tempted by the federally backed loans spigot, people pay for these out of pocket, as opposed to levering the hell out of themselves. While that presents it's own issues, it wildly reduces the incentives that the excesses of federal loans has led to, as the fact that much of their market simply don't have that kind of money to outlay at once.

Also, I've got a few friends who have gotten nanodegrees from Udacity, and every single one has been more than satisfied, which may color my opinion a bit. That said, I'm a firm believer in the idea that there should be options for those of us who prefer a structured curriculum of courses, but aren't interested in the breadth education required from a traditional degree, and that is priced in a way that someone who lives frugally can save for and pay for up front, out of pocket.

I don't think promising a job will make Udacity on par with ITT. I am not qualified to comment on how good they are at placing candidates.

I am currently going through the course for Autonomous Robots on Udacity. I am not in it for a job and I am not even in that domain to begin with. I just want to write code for an autonomous toy car. I find the course very good, particularly for someone without a AI background. Its intuitive and very simply laid out. I really like the small videos and quizzes at the end of each. This is precisely because I have no backgroud in AI, however even I am finding it annoying when I have to review an old lecture. On the whole I really like it though.

I'm no fan of ITT Tech, but when the author says "ITT was never an accredited school", that's not true, right?

My understanding is that it was accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), which was recognized by the Department of Education as an accrediting body until about 3 months ago[1].

[1] http://www.esrcheck.com/wordpress/2016/10/10/department-of-e...

Udacity is awesome and almost entirely free to use. Through Udacity I have learned the basics of computer science, lowish-level web development (python/webapp2), ... then later some more advanced web dev tooling (Gulp, linting, etc.)

It's what I recommend to anyone who asks, what's the best way to learn how to code. It's: 1. Udacity - Intro to computer science 2. Udacity - Steve's Huffman's web development course 3. and from there you're up and running and can make your own path

The unasked question is why does university need to be expensive so as to create what is becoming now a deep class divide in the society causing the dumping of increasing number of youth into the "service" economy. Thus destroying the value that society could have obtained from them had they been given a chance at an education.

I just finished taking the first of their Android Basics courses (User Interface), and I thought it was excellent. The course was free however. I'd be hesitant to pay $200 a month though for the non-free courses. In my opinion, Udacity's courses are high quality, but also expensive.

"The reality is that the for profit school’s only goal was to make money for their investors. It doesn’t matter if the students are not able to find jobs in their field"

I know the founder and he really cares about people, especially his students

Also not an employee, but the major difference between udacity and the ITT (sh*t school that it was) is the vendor created nano-degrees, the pay-as-you-go structure, and the ability to learn real world things.

I see people posting prices here. Why can't I find the prices on their site?

Nothing turns me off a service like being unable to find the price without signing up and/or starting a "free trial".

yeah and articles like this make medium the new Enquirer

Betteridge's law of headlines: any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no.

Sure, if I can short it

When's the IPO, know anybody in Congress to trade the enforcement actions in advance on my behalf?

I spend a good deal of time on various MOOC platforms as a learner and observer. In my opinion (no association with anyone), I think Udacity is a scam!

There are way too many courses I have come across, which are there only to grab the money. There is no quality control there.

In my opinion, Edx, Coursera, Khan Academy, are a better deal.