An artificial intelligence-focused academy backed by venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz is betting that a new generation of tech workers may be better served building products and companies than following a traditional four-year college path.

The Horowitz Andreessen Academy, a private, in-person program in San Francisco, is recruiting roughly 50 students for a tuition-free Founding Class Fellowship beginning in fall 2027. The academy was incubated by Andreessen Horowitz, also known as a16z, which is investing $35 million to launch it, according to the school. In 2028, pending regulatory approval, it will offer a two-year program and expects to charge a tuition similar to an “elite private university.”

Gagan Biyani, founder and CEO of the Horowitz Andreessen Academy and co-founder of online learning platform Udemy, told FOX Business the program reflects “a massive shift” in what modern companies need and what is possible in education.

The academy arrives as recent college graduates face a difficult labor market.

The unemployment rate among recent college graduates ages 22 to 27 was about 5.6% in the second quarter of 2026, while roughly 42% were underemployed, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The bank considers a college graduate underemployed when working in a job that typically does not require a bachelor’s degree.

Still, broader federal data show a college education continues to carry a significant economic advantage.

Workers ages 25 and older with bachelor’s degrees earned median weekly wages of $1,578 in 2025 and had an unemployment rate of 2.8%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Workers with only high school diplomas earned $966 per week and had an unemployment rate of 4.3%.

The academy’s alternative centers on what Biyani calls “proof of work.”

“We’re looking for students who have proof of work. So proof of work is a student who has spent time during their high school career actually building things and shipping them into the world,” he said.

Biyani said that could include building an app with hundreds of thousands or millions of users, starting a business that generates revenue or solving a difficult technical problem.

The school says its founding partners include Anduril, Anthropic, Coinbase, Google, Meta, Nvidia, OpenAI, Palantir, Replit and Stripe. Biyani told FOX Business the academy established partnerships with more than 50 companies before its launch.

“Before we even launched, we made partnerships with over 50 companies that are all name brands, some of the top tier companies in Silicon Valley and beyond. And they all didn’t hesitate, essentially, to say that they would hire academy graduates,” Biyani said.

Biyani argues that artificial intelligence is changing the attributes employers value. The academy will emphasize using AI to build products alongside human skills such as selling and public speaking, as well as what Biyani describes as ambition and “high agency.”

But Biyani said the model should not be interpreted as a rejection of traditional universities, which he described as some of the world’s most important institutions for research and human development.

Instead, he argues they can be overly structured for the particular students his academy is targeting.

“We believe that a lot of these institutions are too structured. And structured in the wrong direction. So, tests, grades, problems that feel like a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist anymore, knowing whether or not someone has the knowledge is no longer the biggest concern that an employer has in AI,” he said.

Biyani said employers are increasingly interested in whether applicants can build products, work effectively with others and deliver results.

The academy isn’t abandoning traditional academic measures entirely. Biyani said admissions officials will consider high school transcripts and SAT or ACT scores, although “proof of work” will receive greater emphasis.

Asked how an 18-year-old deciding between Stanford University and the academy should weigh the choice, Biyani said it depends on the student’s goals.

“I think if you want to go into academia, Stanford is maybe one of the best places on earth to go to. But if you want to go and get a job or start a company, we think the academy is a better fit,” he said.

Biyani stressed that the academy is intended for a narrow group of students rather than as a replacement for higher education.

“The academy is only built for a small, small segment of students. It is not designed to replace the entire system, right? We are pro the university system. We do think some updates need to be made, but our goal is just to serve 50 students for the first cohort, and then maybe we’ll serve a few 100,” he said.

The first class will provide an early test of whether a model emphasizing what students can build over the credential they earn translates into the employment outcomes its founders envision.