“It has sort of good and bad associated with it. It comes with a whole set of assumptions and mixed views. People want to know if you think nobody should go to college.”
— Paul Gu, who dropped out of Harvard to become a Thiel fellow. The fellowships, started by PayPal co-founder and investor extraordinaire Peter Thiel five years ago, have given $100,000 to students who take a break from college for two years to start their own companies. Gu co-founded lending firm Upstart with two former Googlers.
In a look at the first batch of Thiel fellows — nine of the 24 agreed to be interviewed — the Chronicle of Higher Education found that “their experiences have been neither as dire nor as dramatically successful as observers on both sides predicted.” The two sides: Those who agree with Thiel that college is overrated, and those who think Thiel is spouting nonsense. For his part, Thiel was surprised by the attention: “The fact that it was controversial was a big surprise to us, but it was because an awful lot of parents are quite worried about the education system,” he told the Chronicle.
What ideas were born out of the fellowships? They include a solution to provide cheap solar energy and clean water for people in developing countries; an educational-gaming company; a service that analyzes photo and video content. Also, sprayable caffeine. And one fellow started UnCollege, a one-year gap program for students.
UnCollege founder Dale J. Stephens says of the Thiel fellowship: “It sparked a national conversation about the return on investment of higher education.”
But back to Gu. He told the Chronicle: “Are there alternatives to college? Yes, but you have to work pretty hard. It’s pretty unrealistic that most people would find those things on their own. Most people would be better off going to college.”
Photo of Peter Thiel from Mercury News archives
