Draper University, also known as Draper University of Heroes is a private, for-profit school focused on teaching entrepreneurship, located in San Mateo, California. The school has 500+ alumni from 50 countries and has launched 280+ startups that have raised $51M+ in funding from venture investors. Draper University teamed up with Arizona State University in 2013 to offer students 15 course credits for a sixteen-week Semester program. Prior to the partnership with ASU, the school was unaccredited.
History
Draper University was established in 2012 by venture capitalist Timothy C. Draper, co-founder of Draper Fisher Jurvetson. The university building was formerly the HotelBenjamin Franklin. The school's first session had 40 students. Since then the school has grown to offer Fall, Spring and Summer programs for both students as well as executive education for CEO's and governmental officials. In April 2015, a reality program called Startup U featured Draper University's seven-week program in a 10-episode series. The show included Miss USA 2013, Erin Brady, who joined the series to help develop and find investors for her company, Romeo in a Box. Draper University announced a partnership with Arizona State University and Global Silicon Valley in May 2016 to launch an entrepreneurial program combining Draper's innovations in education with ASU's curriculum and large student body. Dubbed the ASU Draper GSV Accelerator, the program includes the Draper University entrepreneurial boot camp with a network of experts. Six scholarships were given to ASU students to attend the program. Since then, Draper University has launched a new partnership, teaming up with ASU to offer 15 college credits and a certificate of entrepreneurship for the Fall 2017 program.
Hotel Benjamin Franklin
Before Draper purchased the building in 2011, the Hotel Benjamin Franklin was a downtown San Mateo landmark since it opened on June 28, 1927. The Benjamin Franklin succeeded the Peninsula Hotel, which was converted from Alvinza Hayward's mansion but had burned in 1920, as San Mateo's finest hotel. The building was designed by local architect W. H. Weeks and constructed at a cost of. It is nine stories high, exceeding at the flagpole. Churrigueresque decorative details can be seen around windows on the second, eighth, and ninth floors. Notable guests at the Benjamin Franklin have included Ginger Rogers, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Friend Richardson, and Masanori Murakami. The Benjamin Franklin had a longstanding relationship to provide temporary housing for United Airlines employees, which began in 1946 and lasted until 2003, when the airline filed for bankruptcy. In 1955, the hotel was purchased by the Max Best family, which ran it until it was sold to Westin in 1985. Westin in turn sold it to The Empire Group in 1989. The building was largely vacant aside from a ground-level bar and restaurant after United moved out, and was part of a larger property transfer from the Lembi Group to UBS AG in 2009 after Lembi fell behind on loan payments. Draper purchased the building in 2011 with the intent to redevelop it under a mysterious project entitled "The Heart of San Mateo". Nearly a year later, Draper revealed his plans for Draper University, billed as "a boarding school for entrepreneurs that will draw students from around the globe" in a letter to city officials. Draper had also acquired a two-story property across the street, intending to use it as classroom space.
Program
The Draper University runs a five to seven-week program with four sessions each year, but will begin its 16-week semester long program in Fall 2017. The program is aimed at 18 to 28 year-olds, and has 500 alumni. In addition to the program, Draper includes a co-working business incubator space called Hero City, VCx, a one-week program teaching early stage investment, and a one-week program aimed at executives adding innovation to corporations. Draper also offers online courses.
Demographics
Draper's spring 2016 class was 45 percent female. The school previously offered scholarships for women including the Meera Kaul Foundation, Women Who Code, and SoGal. 45 percent of students are international. Unlike a traditional faculty, Draper has guest lecturers under a variety of themes.
