Sam Altman Backs EdTech Startup Campus to Make College Affordable for Millions

Campus, the online accredited two-year community college with a mission to deliver debt-free degrees, has just secured $46 million in fresh funding. Led by General Catalyst, the Series B round saw participation from an impressive roster of investors, including Sam Altman, Founders Fund, 8VC, Discord founder Jason Citron, Bloomberg Beta, Rethink Education, and others. This latest capital injection brings Campus’s total funding to over $100 million.

Founded in 2021 by entrepreneur Tade Oyerinde, Campus is setting out to challenge the bloated cost structure of American higher education. The institution offers associate degrees through a hybrid model of live online instruction and in-person learning hubs, keeping tuition at approximately $7,000 per year far below the national average, which ranges from $11,000 to $43,000 annually. With federal Pell Grants covering the full cost for most students, Campus is not just affordable; for many, it’s effectively free.

Student loan debt has skyrocketed to nearly $1.8 trillion, and critics argue that traditional universities have failed to adapt to the needs of modern students. Sam Altman, who co-led a $29 million funding round for Campus in 2023, has long warned that America’s higher education system is unsustainable. He’s not alone in his concerns. Investors like Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Jason Citron have also backed Campus, recognizing its potential to disrupt a sector in dire need of reform.

Oyerinde is blunt about the problem. "The goal, the mission of Campus—if you think about it—over the last 30 years, as four-year universities have become so expensive, today almost half of all undergrads will start off at a community college. And community colleges, when they work, are awesome... but they often don’t work," he said. "Sixty-eight percent of students who go to community college will never graduate, and unfortunately, they will leave with an average of $55,700 in debt."