Y Combinator launched the Early Decision program for students to combine studies with a startup.

For decades, Silicon Valley has idealized the image of the “college dropout” founder. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of college to build companies and became billionaires.

This philosophy later became entrenched in initiatives like the Thiel Fellowship, which pays talented students $200,000 to leave university and focus on their businesses.

For many years, the well-known accelerator Y Combinator also tacitly supported this culture. Although it never explicitly required dropping out of college, many of its most successful alumni—Drew Houston of Dropbox, Steve Huffman of Reddit, John and Patrick Collison of Stripe—were very young and left their studies to pursue startups.

Now, YC is changing this narrative.

The accelerator has introduced a new application format called Early Decision, designed for students who want to launch a company but do not wish to drop out of college. Applicants can now apply while still students, receive approval and funding immediately, but complete the program after graduation.

For example, a student who applies in the fall of 2025 could graduate from university in the spring of 2026 and then join YC’s summer 2026 batch.

Jared Friedman, Managing Partner at YC
This program is aimed at graduating students who want to build a startup but also want to finish their education.

In Silicon Valley culture, dropping out of college has become almost a rite of passage for ambitious founders. Programs like the Thiel Fellowship have turned this into a movement. Peter Thiel himself did not drop out; he earned his bachelor’s degree and law degree from Stanford.

Therefore, YC’s announcement can be seen as a break from the myth that dropping out of college is the only or best path to success. This is especially relevant now, as more young people question the cost of education and its value.

The new program also reflects a more mature view from YC regarding the long-term fate of founders.

The accelerator has always attracted young entrepreneurs. Founders of Loom, Instacart, Rappi, and Brex were teenagers or in their early twenties when they joined YC. However, it was previously implied that you either had to drop out of college to join the program or miss the opportunity.

Early Decision removes this pressure, offering a middle ground—both a diploma and a startup. This could expand the candidate pool by attracting more cautious students who are serious about entrepreneurship but are not ready to sacrifice their education.

In one podcast from YC, an example was given: Sneha Sivakumar and Anushka Nijawan, founders of Spur, applied through Early Decision in the fall of 2023 while still students. They graduated in May 2024, joined YC’s summer batch, and have already raised $4.5 million in funding. Spur develops AI-based quality testing tools.

The program is open to both graduating seniors and juniors. YC is betting that the best founders of the next decade will be able to balance both college and startups.

Additionally, this helps YC attract talent earlier amid increasingly stiff competition with other accelerators, scholarships, and programs like the Thiel Fellowship, Neo Scholars, Founders Inc, as well as Big Tech companies and graduate schools.

You can submit your application here.
Application deadline: November 10 at 8:00 PM Pacific Time.

Source: TechCrunch