The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies - CAMPUS

FOR CREATING A NATIONAL ONLINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

- HARRY MCCRACKEN

WITH STUDENT LOAN DEBT BALlooning into a $1.8 trillion crisis, education entrepreneur Tade Oyerinde has developed an affordable alternative to a traditional four-year degree. In 2022, he launched Campus, the first national online community college. While most evangelizers for online education have pursued massive, asynchronous classes, Oyerinde is betting that live learning is the key to creating a better model of higher education. After a $29 million Series A round led by Sam Altman and Discord cofounder Jason Citron (topped up by an investment from Shaquille O'Neal in early 2024), Campus began offering associate degrees and certificate programs with both online and in-person classes last year. Campus has attracted professors from such colleges and universities as Princeton, NYU, Vanderbilt, and Spelmanin part by paying around $8,000 per class, or double the national average for adjunct professors. Tuition only costs about $7,200 per year, whic