Nice to see someone putting money where his mouth is. The only thing I have difficulties getting : this guy got his education from one of the top US universities at the time - so actually one of the top uni in the world at the time... why doesn't he help make it easier for others to get the same quality education as he did, or why doesn't he make it clear that if one has to spend time getting an education, make sure you get a top one. For the unlucky one who did not get a top top top education, somemiddle class students compensate by a lot of extra-curricular activities ( tons of internships, running associations, and getting involved in start-ups,...). So it looks like it depends really of how proactive and motivated the person is.
It's an interesting social experiment. College is basically what you make of it - some people I look at clearly should never have gone to college whereas others benefit immensely from it. Some people get scholarships and subsidies that provide a stable, safe place for them to experiment and test new ideas. A lot of our biggest companies were started by college students. Others I shake my head at because they should never have gone. They get into $200k in debt to get a Bachelors in English and never pursue anything more. They wind up working in a dead end job and leading a miserable life. Point is - know what you want to be when you grow up. College may be the best thing or the worst thing for you. Kudos to Peter Thiel for giving people who want to skip college the monetary freedom to do so.
the only reason I went to college was because if I didn't, my father wouldn't pay my room and board plus, there was one particular professor I wanted to study with the professor and I didn't hit it off