The Tech Elite Is Funding an Alternative to College
The storied venture-capital firm is investing $35 million in an unaccredited San Francisco-based two-year alternative to traditional college for students ages 16 to 22. Though named the Horowitz Andreessen Academy, the school will operate as an independent business led by Gagan Biyani, co-founder of the ed-tech platform Udemy.
“The idea is to create an AI-native education offering so that these students can be ready for jobs at the top leading tech companies, or to start their own tech company,” he says. “In the modern world, knowing how to build and ship things is even more important than it’s ever been.”
John Friedman, dean of the Watson School of International and Public Affairs at Brown University and an economist who has studied long-term outcomes from college, says having top industry leaders speak to students is an obvious plus from which students will benefit.
