Andreessen Horowitz launches tuition-free academy with Silicon Valley partners and $42M funding

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is creating the Horowitz Andreessen Academy, a tuition-free, one-year program in San Francisco slated to begin in fall 2027. The academy will accept 50 students and will not grant degrees, tests, or homework.

The program combines short classes led by tech figureheads with co-op work stints at partner companies. Classes will be taught by prominent figures such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, according to the announcement.

The academy’s launch partners include Anduril, Anthropic, Coinbase, Google, Meta, NVIDIA, OpenAI, Palantir, Replit, and Stripe. Students are expected to arrange their own housing in San Francisco.

Participants will receive more than $50,000 in compute credits and a $5,000 travel and research budget funded by a16z. The academy frames itself as a pipeline for young people to build or join Silicon Valley startups rather than pursue traditional higher education.