quick Rant!!!!

ITrascal

it just really grinds the gears to see a 5 day course for $3400.  Seen a  Redhat on their site. Im thinking to myself REALLY? Ok im done

ps have any of you all paid this kinda money for a couple of days?

kaiju

These course are meant to be preps for the exam. If you went in with little to no knowledge then it was a waste of money (especially if it was out of pocket).

shochan

I think the pricing is structured for businesses instead of individuals.

mikey88

I could see people paying that much for something like CCIE prep with good instructors. I cringe however when someone spends thousands on a CompTIA boot camp. 

E Double U

Over $6500 for a 5/6 day SANS course, but doesn't bother me since my employer pays.

tedjames

E Double U said:

Over $6500 for a 5/6 day SANS course, but doesn't bother me since my employer pays.

Mine won't pay for something like that. However, if you volunteer to work at a SANS training event, I think you can get the training for something like $1800.

ITrascal

im logically thinking LOL what in that 5-6 day course is worth that much money tho. This kind of info better help someone pass 20 future courses

Swift6

shochan said:

I think the pricing is structured for businesses instead of individuals.

You will find many students attending these courses are usually covered by their employer or contractors and self-employed paying for themselves.

Infosec_Sam

I'm currently sitting in a boot camp from Infosec, and many of my classmates are in government positions that require a security clearance. From what I can tell, it doesn't look like many of the individuals are paying their own way through the class.

I should mention that a boot camp is far from mandatory to pass a certification exam. I've heard it likened to flying first class vs economy in an airplane. They both get you to the same place, but you're going to have a much better/easier time in first class. You just have to decide whether or not the better experience is worth the higher price.

10Linefigure

@Infosec_Sam I see you sliding that advertising in there. 

JDMurray

Pricing is based on the target market for the product. If the target market is businesses rather than individuals then the prices for the products will be higher because businesses can typically afford to pay more. The individual consumer is rarely the target customer for professional business services, such as vendor-supplied training.

lucky0977

My company paid for 5 day boot camps for CISSP and CISM and while not in the price range of SANS courses, they are still ridiculously priced. In my view, it was an instructor reading the book to you and a lot of side-bar conversations pertaining to real world experience.

LonerVamp

Have I paid that kind of money? No.

Would I? That depends. (See below.)

Have I known others to? Yes. For them, it's about what they get out of the deal, both learning and monetary return on investment. Do the certs open doors to new job opportunities or high pay rates? If so, dropping $5000 now for a larger raise in the near future (above and beyond what you'd get if you had instead invested that $5000) certainly makes long term sense for some. Just make sure you're ready to pursue that upward movement as a self-starter. Dropping that money to stay in your current gig and make what is likely a nominal raise you'd have gotten anyway means all you're getting is the knowledge for your own intangible personal gain. That's fine, but it sure is nice to recoup (and more) the investment.

thomas_

Not for IT stuff.  I have an aversion to sitting in a classroom listening to someone reading off of a Powerpoint presentation.  For the  entry- and mid-level I find it to be a waste because for the amount they charge for the course I could self-study, fail the exams a few times, and it would still be cheaper than taking one of these courses.  If I ever go for the CCIE I might consider it, but even then I'll probably end up just taking self-studying for it.

DFTK13

Just me, unless my company is paying for it, I would never go through a mini course or boot camp for the thousands they charge. Especially if I had zero knowledge in the field. I do so much better when I self-study, I can actually absorb the knowledge better instead of being fed through a firehose. 

TechGromit

ITrascal said:

it just really grinds the gears to see a 5 day course for $3400.  Seen a  Redhat on their site. Im thinking to myself REALLY? Ok im done

ps have any of you all paid this kinda money for a couple of days?

Educations costs, usually it's possible just to get some books, read and study them, and pass an exam. Someone is always willing to teach you for a modest fee, something you can do yourself for next to nothing. Global Knowledge has a four day A+ and Network+ certification course for $3,395 each. That's $6,790 for both, I picked up two ExamCram books, read them and studied for two weeks and passed both exams, and got a $3,000 raise at work having those certifications. You just need a little motivation. My employer told us if you have any of these certifications by next month, we will give you more money. A lot of my co-workers were jealous, they were made the same offer, but did nothing about it. Rarely do certifications have such a direct cause and effect, usually it's get this certification and someday it might help you get another higher paying job, maybe....              

TechGromit

LonerVamp said:

Have I paid that kind of money? No.

Would I? That depends. (See below.)

Have I known others to? Yes. For them, it's about what they get out of the deal, both learning and monetary return on investment. T

The most I've parted with personally for education was $400 for an extension for the GREM certification attempt, not counting the certification renewal I recently paid for. While my employer has generously paid for three SANS courses, travel expenses and reimbursed me for passing those certification attempts, they are no longer paying for any more SANS courses, except a few very restrictive cases. For example they will pay a SANS 401 course for a new employee, but not the certification attempt. My GREM will expire in January, 2022. So I can either try to cobble together 36 CPE's from different sources or take another SANS course, which I will have to most likely have to pay for out of pocket, even with a work study, it's $1,800 + travel expenses.