Thiel Fellowship

Scholarship Sponsored by Thiel Fellowship

Overview

The Thiel Fellowship is a highly competitive, two-year program founded by entrepreneur Peter Thiel that supports young people who choose to pursue ambitious projects instead of the traditional college path. It targets founders, inventors, and researchers who want to build startups, create new technologies, or undertake other impactful endeavors. Acceptance is selective and intended for individuals prepared to commit full-time to their projects. The fellowship emphasizes tangible progress and real-world impact over formal academic credentials.

Description: A two-year program that funds young people to pursue ambitious projects in lieu of attending or completing university.

• Founded by Peter Thiel; two-year duration.
• Focuses on real-world project development over academic routes.
• Designed for candidates ready to work full-time on high-impact ideas.

Award Details

Fellows receive financial support totaling $250,000, distributed over the two-year fellowship period. The program does not take equity in fellows' companies or projects. The funding is intended to allow recipients to focus full-time on developing their ventures or research without immediate financial constraints.

Award Value: $250,000 paid over two years; program does not take equity in participants' companies.

• $250,000 total per fellow, paid across two years.
• No equity stake is taken by the fellowship.
• Funds are meant to support full-time commitment to the project.

Eligibility

Eligibility is limited to applicants who are 22 years old or younger and who do not hold a university degree. Individuals who have completed an undergraduate or graduate degree are not eligible to apply. These criteria are core prerequisites for consideration and determine whether a candidate may proceed in the application process.

Eligibility: Applicants must be aged 22 or younger and must not have earned a university degree (undergraduate or graduate).

• Age limit: 22 years or younger.
• Must not hold any university degree.
• Degree-holders are ineligible to apply.

Participation Requirements

Applicants may apply while they are still enrolled in school, but selection requires resignation from university enrollment to accept the fellowship. If chosen, fellows must drop out of their current degree program in order to participate. This requirement ensures recipients can dedicate their full attention to advancing their projects during the fellowship.

Application & Acceptance: You can apply while enrolled in school, but accepting the fellowship requires leaving any current university program.

• Application is open to currently enrolled students.
• Acceptance requires dropping out of university enrollment.
• Full-time commitment is mandatory for fellows.

Project Requirements

You do not need to have an incorporated company or a finished product to apply, but you must show meaningful progress toward a concrete vision. The program seeks evidence that an applicant can execute and advance a specific project with concentrated effort. Projects should be well-defined and demonstrate potential for significant development during the fellowship period.

Project Requirements: A company or complete product is not required, but applicants must demonstrate tangible progress toward a clear, actionable project vision.

• Company incorporation is not mandatory at application.
• Applicants must show meaningful, demonstrable progress.
• Projects should be concrete and capable of advancement through focused work.

Disciplines Supported

The fellowship is not limited to software engineers; it supports a broad range of disciplines and project types. Past fellows have launched nonprofits, created consumer products, built hardware, and started media companies, among other ventures. The primary criterion is the ambition and potential impact of the project rather than the specific technical background of the applicant.

Scope of Projects: Open to diverse disciplines—technology, hardware, nonprofits, media, consumer products, and more—so long as the project is ambitious and impactful.

• Not restricted to software or engineering backgrounds.
• Accepts projects in hardware, media, nonprofits, consumer products, etc.
• Emphasis on ambition and real-world impact over specific discipline.