Tech companies launching their own programs to train grads because they cant rely on Ivy Leagues

As the university system increasingly becomes a wildly expensive bastion of anti-Western sentiment, key figures in Silicon Valley are betting on alternatives to higher education.They argue that even the Ivy League is no longer producing the best candidates — nor are they even accepting some of the most qualified students.“It used to be the case that you could rely on somebody who went to an Ivy or Ivy-equivalent to be top notch,” said Jordan Hirsch, who runs Palantir’s semester-long intensive Meritocracy Fellowship, which accepts high school graduates.“But that’s not the case anymore… we suspected that there was a lot of talent being missed.”Palantir has become a pioneer of the effort to offer alternatives to the conventional four-year undergraduate degree — and now it’s planning to double the size of its third semester-long intensive.The company’s four-month fellowship begins with a five-week crash course in Western civilization — studying philosophers like Aristotle and heroes like Churchill — with classes taught by visiting professors, journalists, and researchers alongside executives such as CEO Alex Karp and CTO Shyam Sankar.In addition to spending the five weeks studying the classics and history, students also build software and later embed with a Palantir team for their assignments. “What we’re trying to build is what we think the college environment should be — and do it in five weeks,” Hirsch said.

“The mission is to support, sustain, and resuscitate the most important institutions, both commercial and government, in the West, in the United States in particular.”He wants students to leave with an appreciation for “individual dignity, individual liberty, human agency, and… a real love for America, for all of its imperfections.”Hirsch estimated that nearly 700 people applied last year for 26 slots.Applications for the next class open Oct.

15, and Palantir hopes to take as many as 50 fellows.Some students are choo...