42 Heads West

Céline Authemayou, Translated by Nina Fink Publié le
42 Heads West
In the next five years, 42's Californian campus will graduate 10,000 students, as compared with 3,000 in France. // ©  HAMILTON/REA
French computer science school 42 was launched in March 2013 by Xavier Niel, founder of French telecommunications giant Free. Now the Paris-based school is exporting its hybrid model to Silicon Valley. The goal? To train 10,000 developers over the next five years.

42 plans to take Silicon Valley by storm. Thanks to an €88 million contribution by founder Xavier Niel, the school will open a 200,000-square-foot facility in Fremont, California, in November 2016.

Like its Parisian predecessor, Fremont will offer a professor-free, no-cost, hands-on program open to anyone ages 18 to 30, with no prior degree necessary. While students from the French campus will be welcome in Fremont, 42 has not yet received authorization to grant student visas.

Solution for a Broken System

At 42's 2013 unveiling in Paris, Niel didn't mince words, decrying the French education system's failure to adapt to today's economy. Three years later, 42's argument remains the same but the country they critique is new.

For co-founder Florian Bucher, "The U.S. and France have very similar higher education access issues. Our solution is the same in both places: free education for all with no degree or financial requirements. We want to help new talents flourish."

Spread the Word

In the next five years, 42's Californian campus will graduate 10,000 students, as compared with 3,000 in France. Bucher explains, "That figure reflects the size of the U.S. market and the high demand for these skills in California and the rest of the country."

42 is not alone in adopting an unconventional approach to the tech crunch. In January 2016, another original, no-degree-required computer science school founded by French software engineers opened in Silicon Valley: Holberton School.

Far from fighting 42, Holberton has laid out the red carpet. Holberton co-founder Sylvain Kalache says, "We welcome 42's arrival with open arms. They will help us spread the innovating teaching methods that are the key to training tomorrow's workforce." Welcome to the West!

Read the article (in French)

Céline Authemayou, Translated by Nina Fink | Publié le