Since 2020, the for-profit tech training school Codeup was forced to return more than $760,000 in tuition and fees to the Department of Veterans Affairs for being unable to place veterans into relevant jobs after graduation, according to VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes.
Before the San Antonio-based coding school closed suddenly last month, it had focused heavily on enrolling veterans who could use VA benefits as a stream of revenue, with veterans making up roughly four-fifths of the total student body.
A VA pilot program called VET TEC, created in 2019, covered tuition and housing costs for veterans to access technology training. But under its rules, the VA held half of the full tuition payment in abeyance until after the veterans landed jobs in their field of study. If they weren’t placed into jobs within 180 days of graduation, schools like Codeup not only missed out on the final payment, they also had to return the partial tuition payments they had already received.
Even as its revenue was being drained by these repayments, Codeup continued a relentless push for growth, recruiting new students at the same time it was struggling to place graduates in jobs, according to a more than half dozen former employees.
In interviews, they painted a picture of good intentions and effective programs undone by feckless leadership and a lack of communication, which in turn led to high turnover and a chaotic working environment.
Leadership, they said, sought to recruit and hire even as a post-pandemic tech hiring slowdown led to a glut of students unable to find entry-level employment within Codeup’s heavily promoted six-month tuition refund guarantee. Jobless students not funded by the VA often sought tuition refunds, further straining the company’s finances.
By several accounts, the school was facing crisis conditions by early 2023.
“The entire narrative really feels like death by a thousand cuts — dozens and dozens of unforced errors with a mostly absent leadership team sitting in a high tower,” said former instructor Kenneth Howell.
In the weeks since its collapse, Codeup’s co-founders, former CEO Jason Straughan, board chairman Michael Girdley and Chris Turner have remained silent on the school’s demise.
Turner, founder and CEO of Turner Logic software company, appears to have been uninvolved for the past several years. Straughan’s LinkedIn profile lists him as a chair at Vistage Worldwide Inc., “the world’s largest executive coaching and peer advisory” company. The company’s website describes its chairs as “accomplished leaders who’ve led companies to greater heights throughout their careers.”
Girdley, who has positioned himself as a startup and business guru offering “lessons from my $100M empire,” continues to hype his expertise and products on social media. He recently promoted one of his e-booklets as “Your tool for surviving a cash crisis.”
None responded to requests for comment.
The school’s now-complicated legacy is clear in comments from former employees and students on social media under news accounts of Codeup’s demise. Some lauded the lives changed and careers launched — hundreds of people have careers in tech thanks to Codeup — while others expressed anger, sadness and “saw-it-coming” resignation.
Codeup had emphasized recruiting veteran students since at least 2016, and doubled down when VET TEC was rolled out in 2019, according to the former employees interviewed, some of whom were recently laid off while others were employed during earlier periods in the school’s 10-year existence.
After several rounds of layoffs in the fall, including Straughan stepping down on Dec. 8, 10-year-old Codeup abruptly shut its doors on Dec. 28 — almost three weeks after telling current students they would be able to complete their programs and continue to receive job search support. At the time, leadership assured students via…
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