Dale J. Stephens

For other people named Dale Stephens, see Dale Stephens (disambiguation).
Dale J. Stephens
Occupation Entrepreneur
Website www.uncollege.org

Dale Jasper Stephens is an American entrepreneur, speaker, and author, best known as one of the original 24 recipients of the Thiel Fellowship.[1][2][3][4][5] He is also the founder of UnCollege, which is a social movement that aims to change the notion that going to college is the only path to success.[6][7][8]

Early life

Stephens is a self-described "elementary school dropout," as he was unschooled for the majority of his childhood.[9] Unschooling is a form of homeschooling that emphasizes real world experiences and student chosen subject matter.[8] While his peers attended middle school and high school, Stephens took college classes, started businesses, lived in France, worked on political campaigns, and helped build a library.[10] At the age of 17, he tweeted the founder of Zinch, which led to an internship.

Stephens briefly attended Hendrix College in Arkansas, but dropped out before completing his second semester.[11] He was frustrated with aspects of his college experience, stating that college "rewards conformity rather than independence, competition rather than collaboration, regurgitation rather than learning and theory rather than application."[11]

Thiel Fellowship

In 2010, Stephens applied for the Thiel Fellowship, a program founded by Peter Thiel which grants fellows $100,000 to forego college for two years and focus on their passions.[2][3][11][12] Stephens initially applied with a proposal for a budget transatlantic airline, and already forged contracts with Boeing, Southwest Airlines, and several airport authorities in connection with the project.[13] Stephens was instead accepted as one of the original 24 Thiel fellows to pursue work as an educational futurist through his website, UnCollege.[13][14] He credits the Thiel 'brand' for many of his recent successes, including his upcoming book and heavy media attention.[15]

UnCollege

Main article: UnCollege

In 2011, Stephens founded UnCollege, which provides resources to students that wish to educate themselves outside of the realm of traditional higher education.[10] The site is inspired by Stephens' background in unschooling and his frustrations with the college experience.[10] He states that his goal with UnCollege is not to take down universities, but encourage more people to consider the opportunity cost of attending college.[11][16]

UnCollege features resources, forums, and workshops designed to help students, whether in or out of college, gain useful skills.[6] The site also hosts the UnCollege Manifesto, a 25 page document written by Stephens that covers subjects like "The value (or lack thereof) of a college degree" and "Twelve steps to self-directed learning."[17] Additionally, the site matches students with mentors and encourages collaboration between users to enhance their education outside of the classroom.[18][19]

Book

In 2013, Stephens released his first book, Hacking Your Education, through Perigee Books, a division of the Penguin Group.[5] Hacking Your Education is a guide to gaining skills outside the classroom.[10][20]

Reception

Splashlife named Stephens as one of their 30 Under 30: Social Media Titans.[21] He has made numerous speaking appearances, including at TEDx events, major news networks, and corporate clients such as NBC Universal and The New York Times.[21][22][23][24] He also debated education with Vivek Wadhwa and Esther Wojcicki at the TED 2012 conference.[25] Stephens has been profiled in world publications like CNN, The New York Times, The Asia Times, ABC, Fast Company, Mashable, NPR, CBS, Inc., TechCrunch, and The Huffington Post.[1][2][3][4][7][8][10][14][15][23]

References

  1. 1 2 Bennett, William J. (April 18, 2012). "Are colleges afraid of Peter Thiel?". CNN.
  2. 1 2 3 Markowitz, Eric (September 2011). "Meet the College Dropouts". Inc.
  3. 1 2 3 Gee, Robyn (June 3, 2011). "Creator Of UnCollege Gets 100K From Thiel Foundation". Huffington Post.
  4. 1 2 Louie, David (May 25, 2011). "Foundation gives $100K to teenage entrepreneurs". ABC.
  5. 1 2 Stephens, Dale (August 18, 2011). ""Hacking Your Education," Coming To A Bookstore Near You".
  6. 1 2 "UnCollege". Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  7. 1 2 Hutchinson, Martin (April 12, 2012). "College clear-out on its way". AsiaTimes.
  8. 1 2 3 Stephens, Dale (April 13, 2011). "Living the Knowledge Life: A Thiel Fellowship Finalist's Response". TechCrunch.
  9. ↑ Kolawole, Emi (August 27, 2011). "Dale Stephens: ‘Unschoolers create their education’". Washington Post.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Ojalvo, Holly (November 4, 2011). "How Students Can Take Charge of Their Education". New York Times.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Stephens, Dale (June 3, 2011). "College is a waste of time". CNN.
  12. ↑ Stephens, Dale (July 18, 2011). "Thiel Fellow Dale Stephens Drops Out (Of College), Moves In (To Silicon Valley), And Starts Up (Talent-Scouting RadMatter)". Fast Company.
  13. 1 2 Smith, Daniel (May 1, 2011). "The University Has No Clothes". New York Magazine.
  14. 1 2 Fox, Zoe (August 26, 2011). "Diploma or Dropout: The Entrepreneur’s Dilemma". Mashable.
  15. 1 2 Stephens, Dale (September 14, 2011). "What Has Being A Thiel Fellow Given Me? Credibility". Fast Company.
  16. ↑ Yeo, Nathan (February 28, 2011). "Students develop new UnCollege curriculum". The Dartmouth.
  17. ↑ The UnCollege Manifesto. UnCollege.
  18. ↑ McKendrick, Joe (March 29, 2011). "The ‘UnCollege’: are walled campuses obsolete?". SmartPlanet.
  19. ↑ Delaney, Meghin (February 14, 2011). "Beyond The Hill | Getting Schooled: UnCollege attracts students with higher education alternative". Daily Orange.
  20. ↑ Stephens, Dale (October 10, 2011). "How This College Dropout Wants To Change Education". Fast Company.
  21. 1 2 "30 under 30: Social Media Titans". Splashlife. May 2012.
  22. ↑ Hockenberry, Alison (February 2, 2011). "Disrupting College: A Mother of Five's Search for Answers as Tuition Looms". Huffington Post.
  23. 1 2 May 2012 "Preparing Americans for the 21st Century Workplace" Check |url= value (help).
  24. ↑ "Speaking Dates & Information". Dale J Stephens. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  25. ↑ Autodesk Cage Match TED2012. YouTube. March 20, 2012.

External links

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