Do successful entrepreneurs really need a college degree? (note addition of the word successful)

We have had this conversation before at Homeschool Entrepreneur, but from a very different perspective. Homeschoolers are considerably divided in their philosophy on the intrinsic need for a college degree, regardless of the weight ‘the world’ puts on the value of that piece of paper. I’m confident that if your young adult is currently in college that you wouldn’t want him/her to drop out immediately to pursue entrepreneurship.

However, if you look a little closer, this $100,000 giveaway isn’t what the headlines might lead you to believe at first glace.

The Thiel Fellowship is a $100,000 grant that PayPal founder Peter Thiel will be awarding early next year to 20 aspiring entrepreneurs under 20 years of age. The entrepreneurs selected will continue their learning in a big way with Thiel’s personal network of tech entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and philanthropists. In the spirit of Facebook and other cultural phenomenon created by ‘college dropouts’, they will offer mentoring, training and employment opportunities during a two-year program with the intent of teaching the recipients about “creating disruptive technologies”.

While  the headlines appear to encourage students to simply drop out of college and become an entrepreneur, Peter Thiel is looking for something quite different, in fact, he’s hoping to change the world.

On the front page of the application for this Thiel Fellowship, PayPal founder Thiel says,

“Our world needs more breakthrough technologies . . . . This fellowship will encourage the most brilliant and promising young people not to wait on their ideas, either. The Thiel Fellows will change the world and call it a senior thesis.”

I don’t think this applies to your average dropout.

Asked about the value of a college education, Peter Thiel said this in a press release:

“University is a tremendously valuable experience, but when entrepreneurs are ready to launch, they should do so immediately, rather than sticking around to satisfy expectations of a full four years of college or eight of grad school.”

Deadline to apply is Dec. 31, and fellows will be announced in early 2011. Applicants must be under 20 years of age as of Dec 15, 2010. There is also an option of applying in teams of 4 or less.

Read more about what the Thiel Fellowship really is (and even apply) at http://thielfoundation.org

Vanessa Richardson at Wallet Pop also wrote an excellent article explaining this in detail and is well worth reading at:  http://www.walletpop.com/2010/12/14/100-000-cash-grants-for-dropouts-only/

In defense of finishing college….read this!

At Harvard Business Review, the publicity of the The Thiel Fellowship spurred an article supporting the importance of finishing school before launching out entitled, “Does an Entrepreneur Need a College Degree?”

In this article the author states:

“As a college student in Nigeria, many of my classmates left school to start businesses thinking they would become moguls before the rest of us completed college. None succeeded. The ones who completed college and got into entrepreneurship are doing much better. They are the ones whose companies are now entering into joint partnerships with multinational companies. Their confidence and better vision in the market helps them scale and pick opportunities.”

So. . .

What do YOU think?

.