Pay Pal co founder Peter Thiel has started a foundation that will grant 20 people who are under 20 yrs old 100k per year for 2 years so that they will not attend college but instead work on their new innovative scientific ideas. According to Mr Thiel, "There is absolutely no experience that matches the real world, so if you have the passion and the drive to work on a great idea then you should do it". At first glance it seems like Mr Thiel is paying kids not to go to school but after reading, hes giving 20 kids the ability and chance to work on something that they truly believe in. Now of course he will benefit from it if their idea actually becomes successful but lets be real, out of 20 innovators, one maybe 2 will actually blossom into something special. For the other 18 people they are walking away from a great experience 200k richer and a wealth of knowledge from working with a fortune 100 company.
I too believe that there is no experience like real world experience. When given the opportunity to do such a thing, it has to be taken into consideration especially when a 6 figure salary is involved. Yes those students are 2 years behind, but if that had enough passions and drive to take @ years off to chase a dream, surely they can figure out how to make up for the 2 years they lost by not going to school and still graduate on time our only a semester late...
It is a good incentive to get 2 years "behind" although you might hardly be "behind" if you have money to pay tuition and nice experience to get you in to any school. BUT, what do you think about Thiel's point. Ultimately he believes college education is mature and overpriced - a thing of the past. Is he making his point?
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