Getting paid to NOT go to college
Foundation pays $100,000 fellowship for selected youth to drop college to pursue their innovative and entrepreneurial projects
by Pinedale Online!
July 21, 2011
Students are encouraged through elementary, middle and high school to believe that the next best step after high school is college. But is that necessarily so?
Entrepreneur Peter Thiel has created a foundation that is paying brilliant and innovating young people not to go to college.
In late May, The Thiel Foundation announced the names of 24 young people under the age of 20 who are being given a $100,000 fellowship - under the condition they quit college for two years to pursue their innovative ideas.
The 20 Under 20 Thiel Fellowship encourages young people to "pursue innovative scientific and technical projects, learn entrepreneurship, and begin to build the technology companies of tomorrow. During their two-year tenure, each Fellow will receive $100,000 from the Thiel Foundation as well as mentorship from the Foundation’s network of tech entrepreneurs and innovators. The project areas for this class of fellows include biotech, career development, economics and finance, education, energy, information technology, mobility, robotics, and space."
These kids are brilliant, self-motivated, go-getters who at a young age have already demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit and drive to pursue innovative directions in science and technological projects to better the world.
According to the Thiel Foundation website, Peter Thiel is a technology entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist who works to accelerate innovation by identifying and funding promising technology ideas and by guiding successful companies.
"More than four hundred people younger than twenty applied to be Fellows. Applications arrived from nearly two dozen countries, and from nearly two hundred high schools, junior colleges, community colleges, four-year colleges, and graduate schools. Many applicants never went to college, had already stopped out of school, were already working, or had already launched their own company. Many had a long personal history of entrepreneurship. They applied at a time of increasing debate about the cost and value of college and student debt," said the Thiel Foundation media release: Peter Thiel Announces Inaugural Class Of 20 Under 20 Thiel Fellows (May 25, 2011)
Information about applications for the next round of fellows will be available at 20under20.org in late October.
Click here to read the impressive bios of the fellowship winners: 2011 Thiel Fellows
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