Y Combinator launches "Early Decision" for students who want to graduate first, build later | TechCrunch

"For many years, the famed accelerator Y Combinator also quietly reinforced that culture. While it never explicitly required students to drop out, many of its most successful alumni, including Dropbox's Drew Houston, Reddit's Steve Huffman, and Stripe's John and Patrick Collison, joined the program young and left school behind to build their companies."

"The accelerator has introduced a new application track called Early Decision, designed for students who want to start companies but don't want to drop out. The program allows them to apply while still in school, get accepted and funded immediately, and defer their participation in YC until after they graduate. For example, a student applying in Fall 2025 could graduate in Spring 2026, then participate in YC's Summer 2026 batch."

Silicon Valley long celebrated college dropouts as exemplar founders, with initiatives like the Thiel Fellowship institutionalizing that ethos. Y Combinator historically reinforced the dropout culture through many of its successful, young alumni who left school to build companies. Y Combinator has introduced an Early Decision application track for students who want to start companies without leaving college early. The track lets students apply while enrolled, receive acceptance and funding immediately, and defer joining YC until after graduation. The program targets graduating seniors and offers a pathway that preserves degree completion while enabling startup formation and access to accelerator resources.

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