How Much is a React Course?

When exploring your options for React training, cost will be a crucial deciding factor. You’ll want to make sure that the price is within your budget, but you’ll also want to make sure that the cost of the course is worth the knowledge and skills you will learn. While attending a professional development class is a good way to advance in your career and increase your earnings, you might not want to (or be able to) pay any price to further your React skills, and you may find there aren’t enough benefits to enrolling in the most expensive training option possible.

Overall, the cost of a React course will depend on the depth of knowledge, course length, and whether it’s live or on-demand. Typically, the most immersive courses are the most expensive. A college programming degree can cost tens of thousands of dollars and take four years to complete, but will provide in-depth learning. Alternatively, a bootcamp or on-demand training course will cost substantially less, but these will only provide you with entry-level skills. So, when considering cost, you also need to consider how much you want to learn and the value of the long-term benefits of the courses on your list. 

College Marketing Programs: The Most Expensive Option

If you’re willing to invest even more time and money, an undergraduate or graduate degree in marketing may be a good fit. These can range in length from two to four years and consist of hundreds (if not thousands) of coursework hours. This length means that you will learn much more than in other shorter training programs. These programs require you to apply and get accepted, and ‌have prerequisites involving SAT and ACT scores, foreign language requirements, and a minimum acceptable GPA. College is substantially more expensive than other training options, too, costing between $27,000 and $100,000 per year. Of course, scholarships and financial aid are available, and community colleges can help make a degree more affordable.

Pew Research surveyed the public and found that only one-in-four U.S. adults say it’s extremely or very important to have a four-year college degree in order to get a well-paying job in today’s economy. Only 22% say the cost of getting a four-year college degree today is worth it even if someone has to take out loans. So, while a college degree still holds value, there are disadvantages to this pathway that need to be considered. 

Professional Development Programs: Immersive Career-Focused Classes

Another option is to attend professional development programs like bootcamps, certifications, or certificate programs. Certifications are often required by employers to prove that you have continuing competency in ever-evolving tools and technology. They are a tried-and-tested method of proving one’s competence in a chosen field and, because of this, some employers will often cover the cost of these certifications and exams, eliminating the need for you to financially invest in this continuing education. But, if you’re attempting to transition into a new field, a certificate may not be the right choice, especially if cost is a concern.

Certificate and certification programs can be lengthy as well. They typically fall somewhere between a bootcamp and a four-year degree, taking up to a year or two to complete. While their curriculum is robust and a certificate of competency will look good to potential employers, they aren’t the best option for folks looking to change careers quickly. A bootcamp can be completed in a much shorter time frame and also typically comes with a certificate of completion that can be added to your resume or LinkedIn to showcase your knowledge. Then, once you’re established in your new field, you can pursue a certificate to continue your education. 

Certificates and certifications cost slightly more than bootcamps, but both are much more affordable than a four-year degree. You can expect to pay a few thousand dollars or fewer for these and, as previously mentioned, sometimes employers will help pay for these classes.

Live Training Classes: Ideal for Beginners and Unsure Students

The most affordable classes you’ll find will be introductory level courses. These classes typically can be completed in just a day or two. You’ll learn what React is, how it’s used, and the fundamental techniques and tools associated with it. These classes are often held live, either in-person or online, allowing you to participate in conversation with your instructor and receive feedback in real time. It’s important to keep in mind that these classes won’t cover advanced subjects (unless you attend an advanced live training) so if you need to learn more than just the basics, an introductory class may not be the best option for you. Live training classes usually cost a few hundred dollars or fewer, making them a great way to begin your education without financially over-investing. 

On-Demand Classes: Excellent Supplements at Reasonable Prices

A self-paced course, also known as an on-demand course, is offered online and can be completed at the time and speed of your choosing. Self-paced courses are ideal for those with complicated schedules as they allow you more flexibility with no set class times or assignment due dates. These classes are also a great way to learn the ins and outs of React from whatever angle you find to be the most interesting, so if you want to learn about keywords, Google Analytics, on-page React, or off-page React, there are plenty of React experts with their own tutorials and blogs that can help.

If your schedule is complicated or you prefer to learn at your own pace, on-demand classes offer the most flexibility and freedom. All lessons are prerecorded and there’s no due dates or class times to worry about. You can skip any lessons you’ve already mastered or spend more time on more difficult subjects. With this comes the disadvantages of no live collaboration with other students or instant feedback from an expert instructor. While you’ll have more time to master challenging subjects, you won’t have someone to help walk you through those challenges or provide additional insight. 

It’s also important to remember that with more freedom comes less accountability. On-demand classes can work for independent learners who can keep themselves on task and motivated, but may not be the best fit for those who find motivation through accountability. Without scheduled class times and due dates, you may fall behind or take longer to complete your training. And without the right level of motivation, you can easily lose interest in completing the training altogether.

Free Resources: What are They Good For?

Free resources are available for learning React. YouTube boasts a wide range of tutorials and informative videos on all kinds of React subjects: from short five-minute episodes on the fundamentals to more in-depth breakdowns of advanced topics. YouTube is a great way to explore your initial interest or get answers to specific questions on React. Other websites like Google and LinkedIn offer short free tutorials and trainings designed to help you grasp the history and basic principles of React. Free resources are often your fastest option and can last anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours. Their brevity is one reason they are so valuable, but the drawback of these courses is that they will lack the in-depth knowledge and real-time interaction with an expert instructor that more immersive programs offer. With that in mind, it’s best to use these resources as a brief introduction to make sure you’re interested in the subject as opposed to the sole source of your education. 

Learn React Skills with Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop offers in-depth courses both live online and in-person at their New York office. Their React Development Bootcamp covers everything from the basics of React and Node.js to advanced components and server deployment. You'll start with learning how to compose components, the foundations of React, and then move on to building dynamic fully functioning web applications and deploying them using AWS (Amazon Web Services). This Noble Desktop course (and many others) boasts small class sizes, one free retake, and setup assistance. If you’re interested in pursuing further education, this course counts towards three of Noble’s certificate programs: Full-Stack Web Development, Software Engineering, and JavaScript Development. 

Want to take your skills to the next level? Noble Desktop’s JavaScript Development Certificate is a longer professional training program that will teach you how to build web apps with JavaScript, one of the most popular programming languages in the world. You’ll learn to master React and Node.js, create APIs with Express.js, and work with databases with MongoDB. This course also covers additional topics like Browser Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) built into web browsers, third-party APIs, and third-party frameworks and libraries. If you’re a new developer or an existing one coming from a different background, learning JavaScript will up your game to web application development.

Similarly, the Full-Stack Web Development Certificate helps you develop the skills and knowledge to meet the growing demand for developing and maintaining web applications. This course will teach you to use programming languages like HTML/CSS and JavaScript to program memorable, interactive web pages. You’ll also use the MERN tech stack (MongoDB, Express.js, React, and Node.js) to add databases, APIs, AWS and other server environments, and interactivity for those web applications. Focused on a series of projects, you’ll leave this course with a portfolio of working web applications to show to potential employers. 

Finally, Noble’s Software Engineering Certificate covers HTML & CSS, JavaScript, and React, and back end development with Python, Django, and Node.js. You’ll learn HTML to mark up web pages and CSS for styling; the fundamentals of JavaScript; Git for version control; and how to use Flexbox and Grid to layout, align, and reorder web page content, as well as make it adapt to different size screens. The second part of the course will cover JavaScript programming concepts, including variables, data types, loops, and DOM. You’ll also build your very own desktop application using React and deploy it using the AWS (Amazon Web Services) cloud environment. Finally, you'll master the lexical syntax of Python and quickly move to more advanced topics like dictionaries, custom functions, and sorting algorithms. You'll then progress to object-oriented programming, working with APIs, and querying databases with SQL. By the end of this course, you’ll have a portfolio of projects, a polished resume, and a professional LinkedIn profile; be prepared for common interview questions; and be armed with tips for applying to jobs.