Dale J Stephens
Encyclopedia
Dale Jasper Stephens is an entrepreneur, speaker and Hendrix College
dropout who has received $100,000 from Peter Thiel
's philanthropic venture 'Thiel Fellowship' in 2011. He is the founder of the UnCollege
movement, whose goal is to help people extend their education beyond educational institutions, replacing four-year college with "life-wide learning."
, a self-directed learning philosophy similar to homeschooling. Looking for a more rounded educational experience, he studied abroad in France for six months, helped build a library in his hometown, and worked on political campaigns. At the age of 17, he became increasingly interested in technology start-ups, and during his senior year of “high school,” tweeted the founder of Zinch, and subsequently received a job from them.
Dale matriculated to Hendrix College, Arkansas, USA at the age of 18, but he became increasingly frustrated with what he felt was a lack of seriousness about education at the college, and found that there needed to be a higher emphasis on learning, as well as a more direct application of knowledge in the real world. In December 2010 he applied for the Thiel Fellowship with an idea to start a low-cost transatlantic airline, Eutopia Airways. In January of 2011, he and his friends from college and unschooling devised the initial concept of UnCollege, and Dale quickly began marketing it to the general public. Upon seeing Dale’s work, the Thiel foundation, who had initially rejected his application, invited him to re-enter the contest if he used UnCollege as his idea as opposed to Eutopia Airways. Dale made the decision to drop out of Hendrix College and work on UnCollege full-time at the end of March upon coming into contact with the RadMatter team through the Gates Foundation, and left Hendrix for San Francisco in April of 2011. At the end of April, he was awarded the Thiel Fellowship and began traveling around the world to build and spread his new ideas on college education.
Hendrix College
Hendrix College is a private liberal arts college located in Conway, Arkansas. The student body averages around 1,400 and currently represents forty-three states and fourteen foreign countries. In US News and World Report's America's Best Colleges, Hendrix is ranked annually in the top tier of...
dropout who has received $100,000 from Peter Thiel
Peter Thiel
Peter Andreas Thiel is an American business magnate, venture capitalist, and hedge fund manager. With Elon Musk and Max Levchin, Thiel co-founded PayPal and was its CEO...
's philanthropic venture 'Thiel Fellowship' in 2011. He is the founder of the UnCollege
UnCollege
UnCollege is a social movement started by Dale Stephens whose goal is to change the notion that going to college is the only path to success. Dale advocates home schooling at the College level, and started a website, uncollege.org to help self-learners network, trade tips, and find...
movement, whose goal is to help people extend their education beyond educational institutions, replacing four-year college with "life-wide learning."
Bio
Dale was unschooledUnschooling
Unschooling is a range of educational philosophies and practices centered on allowing children to learn through their natural life experiences, including play, game play, household responsibilities, work experience, and social interaction, rather than through a more traditional school curriculum....
, a self-directed learning philosophy similar to homeschooling. Looking for a more rounded educational experience, he studied abroad in France for six months, helped build a library in his hometown, and worked on political campaigns. At the age of 17, he became increasingly interested in technology start-ups, and during his senior year of “high school,” tweeted the founder of Zinch, and subsequently received a job from them.
Dale matriculated to Hendrix College, Arkansas, USA at the age of 18, but he became increasingly frustrated with what he felt was a lack of seriousness about education at the college, and found that there needed to be a higher emphasis on learning, as well as a more direct application of knowledge in the real world. In December 2010 he applied for the Thiel Fellowship with an idea to start a low-cost transatlantic airline, Eutopia Airways. In January of 2011, he and his friends from college and unschooling devised the initial concept of UnCollege, and Dale quickly began marketing it to the general public. Upon seeing Dale’s work, the Thiel foundation, who had initially rejected his application, invited him to re-enter the contest if he used UnCollege as his idea as opposed to Eutopia Airways. Dale made the decision to drop out of Hendrix College and work on UnCollege full-time at the end of March upon coming into contact with the RadMatter team through the Gates Foundation, and left Hendrix for San Francisco in April of 2011. At the end of April, he was awarded the Thiel Fellowship and began traveling around the world to build and spread his new ideas on college education.