Andreessen Horowitz is opening a school aimed at high-school graduates who have not yet attended college. The Horowitz Andreessen Academy, based in San Francisco, will offer a one-year program with no tuition for its first cohort of about 50 students. Coursework spans technical topics such as "AI Research and Models" and life philosophy like "The Geometry of Luck," alongside personal projects.
The academy's pitch is access: students will hear from 200 speakers and mentors, including people from founding corporate partners such as Anduril, Anthropic, Coinbase, Google, Meta, Nvidia, OpenAI, Palantir, Replit, and Stripe. Those companies and others hope to hire graduates, according to CEO Gagan Biyani. Students are responsible for their own housing, though the school says it will help match roommates.
Notably, the school is not accredited, so participants will not earn a degree or transferable college credits. The for-profit venture has raised $42 million and plans to expand to a two-year program in 2028, at which point it will charge tuition "similar in cost to an elite private university," Biyani said on X.
The model sits between a traditional degree and the drop-out path popularized by Y Combinator and the Thiel Fellowship. With AI squeezing entry-level tech jobs, the academy offers a direct route to industry connections and employment, even without a credential. The source notes the school may eventually grow beyond its initial 50-student cohort, but no timeline is given for that expansion.