Austen Allred co-founded “Lambda School” in 2017 with the idea of addressing the college debt crisis in California. Allred, the current CEO, was an entrepreneur prior to starting the company, even authoring a book on how to successfully form a startup business. In addition to this he co-founded the media platform “Grasswire.” Together with Ben Nelson they saw a market for students who could not afford the skyrocketing costs of tuition.
Lambda is a remote learning post-secondary institution which, rather than charging tuition, invests in students’ futures. Students do not pay any money to the institution until they are hired and earning a minimum of $50,000 USD per year. At that time they are obligated to pay 17% of their yearly earnings for two years.
The business approach is extremely unique as it is predicated on student success to achieve profits. This means that the company has a vested interest in placing their students in high earning positions. Though the institution is very young they have placed students in some of the largest companies worldwide, including Microsoft, Google, Cisco, Verizon and Apple.
The model of course delivery is based on research with top tech companies trying to determine what skills and fundamentals are most useful. The most recent data from 2019 showed a 90% success rate of finding a job in their field within 6 months of graduation.
Super interesting to know such an online institution is available. I wonder how they were able to convince investors to invest in their company. Most likely they didn’t receive any income until 4-6 year after the graduation of the first cohort. As a costumer/student, I love the idea but as an investor, I would hesitate to invest (unless I am donating rather than investing).
Hello Raafa,
I would tend to agree. I love the idea but there is a major risk undertaken by the company and certainly no guarantees on return