Springboard vs. Khan Academy: Comparing Learning Platforms

Springboard is a career-focused edtech platform where skills are taught as part of a roadmap to a profession. Springboard follows a bootcamp model, which means classes are capped to ensure a manageable mentor-to-student ratio and follow a structure that ensures that students understand the fundamentals of each profession before they advance to more challenging skills.

Springboard’s bootcamps—which span the most in-demand tech professions such as software engineering, data science, cybersecurity, tech sales, and design—also take a more holistic approach to education. They combine a comprehensive curriculum with self-paced instruction, video lectures, readings, capstone projects, and work sprints that mimic the real-world work experience.

Khan Academy is intended for all students and focuses on skills and knowledge taught in most classrooms. While there’s nothing stopping adults from enrolling, the bulk of its courses span math, science, reading, history and humanities. Some of its more advanced courses touch on college-level subjects, such as cryptography, algorithms, and information theory, but these are taught as standalone subjects instead of organized as part of a career track

Springboard’s bootcamps are around $10,000, with discounts and scholarships available for select students. Springboard’s introductory courses, which give students a taste of a field at a fraction of the time commitment, start from $349.

Khan Academy is free for all students.

Springboard offers a job guarantee for qualified graduates, with all-encompassing courses that prepare students for the workforce. If a student does not secure a job related to their field of study within six months of graduation, Springboard will offer a full refund on tuition.

Student outcomes are difficult to measure for Khan Academy because the platform is not intended to prepare students for the workforce. When measured against its stated goals of helping students achieve better grade schooling and pre-college exam outcomes Khan Academy has a strong track record.