Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir, asserts that graduates from elite universities are destined for failure. He believes individuals possessing specialized skills will achieve greater financial success.

“If you are the kind of person that would’ve gone to Yale, classically high IQ, and you have generalized knowledge but it’s not specific, you’re effed,” Karp recently said in an interview with Axios. “There’s some schools you maybe should go to, otherwise, go to the cheapest school and come to Palantir—or just come here.”

The CEO admitted he targeted Yale due to relatives attending the institution, and he actually recommends it as one of the few universities students should consider, alongside Stanford University. However, his overarching belief is that simply graduating from a prestigious U.S. College doesn't guarantee success. This sentiment aligns with his frequent claims that higher education is no longer a dependable preparation for future leaders and innovators; earlier this year, Palantir even launched its Meritocracy Fellowship to encourage high school students to forgo college and join the $439 billion defense tech company instead. 

Karp suggests that in this uncertain job environment, individuals with Ivy League educations won't necessarily be the ones who achieve significant success. He posits that it will be those possessing specialized expertise, the kind of people who inquire with questions such as, “How do I impute the problem in this complicated device that’s going wrong, that otherwise would be fixed by a Japanese engineer, while being a high school grad?”

“Those people are going to make a lot more money, specifically because you can turn it any way you want,” Karp explained. “Within a relatively rapid amount of time, you will get paid downstream of the value you create.”

The Meritocracy Fellowship and Karp's contempt for prestigious universities

Palantir's CEO, a tech executive whose company has drawn criticism for its work with ICE and its data analytics for the U.S. Army, has frequently attacked universities for failing to equip students with practical skills for life after graduation. 

“Everything you learned at your school and college about how the world works is intellectually incorrect,” Karp told CNBC in an interview earlier this year.

When considering candidates for his own firm, he's unconcerned about whether they graduated from a top-tier university. He feels that experience at Palantir is the top-notch a valuable credential in the technology sector, and he's even bringing in young people to his organization. 

“If you did not go to school, or you went to a school that’s not that great, or you went to Harvard or Princeton or Yale, once you come to Palantir, you’re a Palantirian—no one cares about the other stuff,” Karp said during the business’ Q2 2025 earnings call. “This is by far the best credential in tech. If you come to Palantir, your career is set.”

In expressing his devotion to sway budding talent away from “indoctrinating” colleges, Palantir commenced its Meritocracy Fellowship this April. The four-month, paid internship is aimed at recent high school graduates who are not already enrolled in college. The program required Ivy League-level test scores to qualify, and attracted more than 500 applicants, with only 22 Gen Zers making the cut.

“Opaque admissions standards at many American universities have displaced meritocracy and excellence,” the fellowship posting said. “As a result, qualified students are being denied an education based on subjective and shallow criteria. Absent meritocracy, campuses have become breeding grounds for extremism and chaos.”

During their stint, the pupils learned about U.S. History and foundations of the West, working alongside Palantir’s full-time employees in solving technical problems and improving products. The fellows will wrap the program this month after choosing to forgo their undergraduate degrees—and those who “excelled” will be given the chance to interview for a full-time job at the business.