Running without state approval, Lambda School shows challenge of regulating new entities – Education Dive
The agency that oversees private education in California says the popular coding academy has not properly registered and told it to stop operating.
Less than three years in, California-based coding academy Lambda School has emerged as one of the increasingly popular online alternatives to traditional postsecondary education.
Lambda and other entities like it are marketed as self-paced and more affordable than a typical college or university. Their pitch is alluring — in many cases, students face no upfront costs for their education. Instead of tuition payments, several such schools use a financing tool called an income-share agreement (ISA) that allows students to repay the cost of attendance as a percentage of their income after finishing the program.
The model has attracted attention. Lambda arose from Y Combinator, the same startup accelerator that launched Airbnb and food delivery service Doordash. It has raised at least $48 million from the likes of GV, formerly Google Ventures, the online behemoth’s investment arm, and Sound Ventures, actor Ashton Kutcher’s company.