Shaquille O’Neal’s new educational initiative is underway.
As AFROTECH™ previously reported, O’Neal learned of the efforts of Tade Oyerinde, who founded and leads accredited online community college startup Campus, while reading a Forbes article about him. The startup had received a $29 million funding raise in 2023 with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Discord Founder Jason Citron leading its Series A funding round.
“Shaq saw the Forbes article and had his team reach out, and he was just like, ‘This kid raised all this money from these guys.’ He thought it was unbelievable,” Oyerinde told AFROTECH™ at the time.
O’Neal was so impressed that he wanted to get involved in Oyerinde’s mission. He is now an investor in the company and, most recently, is kicking off Campus’s latest initiative. According to a press release, O’Neal and Campus.edu plan to provide 500 high school students and recent graduates with access to business courses taught by college professors from top colleges and universities nationwide.
“We know that talent is everywhere, but too many talented students simply don’t think college is for them. We’re teaming up with Shaq to prove them wrong,” Oyerinde said in the news release. “We’re doing this to show young people that college is within reach, that college can be affordable, and that they don’t have to do this alone.”
Students can select from the following programs:
- Introduction to Business Administration (instructed by Todd Fitch, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley)
- Principles of Marketing (instructed by Dan Goldsmith, a professor at the University of Maryland, College Park)
- Principles of Microeconomics (instructed by Deniz Baglan, a professor at Howard University)
- English Composition (instructed by Theresa Walsh, a professor at the University of California, Davis)
“What we’re seeing today is too many kids wondering if college is still worth it,” O’Neal said. “These students either feel like they aren’t college material or believe the price tag is out of reach, and that’s a shame. We believe everyone should have access to higher learning, and with that in mind, we’re making college classes available for free so that hundreds of students have the opportunity to show the world what they can do.”
For those interested in enrolling in the program, applications must be submitted by June 28, 2024, via Campus.edu/shaq. The programs will take place beginning in July 2024.
