a16z announces the Horowitz Andreessen Academy, a school built on real projects

On September 22, 2026, the venture firm a16z announced it is incubating the Horowitz Andreessen Academy, a private, full-time, in-person school in San Francisco for young people coming out of high school.

The announcement describes three parts: co-ops, meaning work during the year and not just over the summer; courses; and what it calls "pursuits", meaning personal projects, quests and startup ideas.

We read the Academy's site on September 30, 2026. Here is what it states:

• Who it is for. The FAQ says it is "designed primarily for high school graduates who would otherwise attend a four-year university." You must finish high school by August 2027, with no more than two years of full-time college by then. There is no age limit, and international applicants are welcome.
• How students are chosen. Admission "is heavily weighted on proof of work." The first year runs as the Founding Class Fellowship, expected to be roughly 50 students.
• When. One year, September 2027 to August 2028: courses on the San Francisco campus from September to April, May abroad, and a co-op from June to August.
• Cost. There is no tuition for the Founding Class Fellowship. Students pay for their own housing, meals and living costs; the FAQ puts shared dormitory housing at $1,600 to $1,800 a month and a single room at $2,300 to $2,600. The Academy says it aims "for every admitted student to be able to attend, whatever their family's finances." The Fellowship does not take part in federal or state financial aid programs, and 529 savings cannot be used on it tax-free.
• What you leave with. The Academy is not accredited: no college degree, and nothing that counts toward one. Students leave with a portfolio of their work.
• Deadline. Early admission applications are due November 5, 2026.

The FAQ answers the question most families will ask first. The Fellowship lasts one year, so a student can apply to college this year, accept an offer, and ask to defer the start by a year. The Academy notes that most colleges allow this. Each college sets its own deferral rules, so read your college's before you count on it.

The idea behind the school is one admissions readers already know. Real work, done over time, says more about a student than a list of titles: a project with a result, a paper someone read, an invention with a filing date. A reader can check those. That holds for a four-year college application this fall too.