Enstitute, an Alternative to College for a Digital Elite
JASMINE GAO, who is 19, just wasn't the classroom type. So instead of languishing in college, she dropped out after her freshman year. — Ms. Gao decided that she didn't want to continue studying at Baruch College, part of the City University of New York.
Context & Ripple Effects
Enstitute's pitch lands on ground prepared years earlier: as far back as [[a:1182374|2007, the Washington Post was noting that internet access alone was becoming the prerequisite for more college classes]], loosening the assumption that learning requires a campus. The program takes that logic to its endpoint — no classes at all, just apprentices embedded in startups.
The Times profile travels through tech-media channels rather than general news ones, with pickups from Jessica Lessin's outlet and Enstitute's own account, which tells you the intended audience is founders and would-be apprentices, not higher-ed administrators. Jasmine Gao, a Baruch College dropout now placed with a startup, is the proof-of-concept the story leads with.
First-order effects
- Gao and Enstitute's other apprentices swap CUNY tuition and classroom time for paid startup placements, meaning Baruch College loses the enrollment while the host companies gain junior staff below market rate.
Second-order effects
- Startups get a recruiting channel that bypasses university career offices entirely, pressuring degree-gated entry-level hiring at larger tech employers to justify its cost.
Third-order effects
- If employers in tech keep treating demonstrated apprentice work as equivalent to a transcript, the degree's pricing power erodes first among digitally skilled students — the exact population universities least want to lose.
The trend: Apprenticeship programs like Enstitute are extending the online-learning shift of the mid-2000s from 'campus optional' to 'classroom optional,' challenging the degree as the default credential for early tech careers.