It's funny because they actually know a bit about rebranding. Hacker School evolved out of Hackruiter, which in turn came from HireHive. http://unschooled.org/2012/06/the-path-to-hacker-school/

All told they've been around since 2011. If they think three years is too late to change brands, well, it just sounds pretty shortsighted to me. They can take their existing customers with them and build much needed credibility in being true to their vision. As long as the new brand is better than the old brand I don't see a downside.