Look out Ivy League, Elon Musk is coming for you.
The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of several other companies (including, um, X), has plans to launch a new university in Austin, Texas.
As the Texas Tribune reported, tax filings for The Foundation, one of the charities owned by the world’s richest man, show plans to use a $100 million gift from Musk to fund the school. Initial plans call for a primary and secondary school, which will focus on a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) curriculum. Once that’s up and operational, the focus will shift to building a university. (It’s unclear what the name of the learning center would be. The tax filings refer to it simply as “the School.”)
The university, says the filing, will also focus on STEM subjects, and will include “hands-on learning experience, including simulations, case studies, fabrication/design projects, and labs.” A search is underway now for an executive director, as well as experienced teachers and administrators.
The private elementary and secondary school will initially enroll 50 students, with plans to increase that number over time. Donations and tuition fees will fund its activities, though it will offer financial aid when necessary. Admission will be merit-based.
“The school is being designed to meet the education needs of those with proven academic and scientific potential, who will thrive in a rigorous project-based curriculum,” the filing reads. “The school will, after a thorough assessment, select applicants who demonstrate academic curiosity and discipline, independence, and innovation.”
The school follows word that Musk is in the process of building his own town, about 35 miles east of Austin. That suburb, dubbed Snailbrook, will likely be inhabited by workers of Musk’s companies. (Snailbrook is the name of Boring’s mascot, of SpongeBob SquarePants fame.)
The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk wants to offer rental houses to workers that are priced well below the local averages. One ad allegedly put the monthly rental figure of a two- or three-bedroom home at $800, compared to $2,200 a month in nearby Bastrop, Texas.
Texas law requires an area to have at least 201 residents before it can incorporate. Plans, which the Journal revealed, call for the construction of 110 more homes in the area where Snailbrook is located.
Over the past three years, entities tied to Musk have bought at least 3,500 acres in the general Austin area. The Journal says some reports indicate Musk controls as much as 6,000 acres.
This is hardly Musk’s first run at starting his own educational hub. Nine years ago, he opened Ad Astra, an exclusive school on the SpaceX campus for his sons and a few others. Like the upcoming schools, the focus was on science and tech—to the point where sports, music, and languages were skipped.
“I just didn’t see that the regular schools were doing the things that I thought should be done,” Musk told a Chinese TV station in 2015. “So I thought, well let’s see what we can do. Maybe creating a school will be better.”
That learning facility eventually closed down, transitioning into Astra Nova, an online school that focuses on children between the ages of 10 and 14 and is still up and running today.
“Our only directive from Elon was to ‘make it great’,” the school’s website reads. “And from the terror and opportunity of that challenge, Astra Nova was born.”
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