Minerva University

In 2012, Ben Nelson founded Minerva Project, a venture-backed Silicon Valley startup, with the aim of transforming higher education; that year it received a $25 million seed investment from Benchmark. Minerva’s educational philosophy is rooted in Nelson’s student campaigning at the University of Pennsylvania; he has said that elite universities no longer teach students to think freely, critically, and logically.⁠[1][2][1][1]

On July 24, 2013, Minerva Project and Keck Graduate Institute (KGI), a WASC-accredited member of the Claremont Colleges, announced a partnership to launch Minerva Schools at KGI, an arrangement then pending WASC approval, with the first class planned to enroll in the fall of 2015. The KGI board had approved the partnership at the end of June that year; Stephen Kosslyn, former Dean of Social Sciences at Harvard University, became founding dean. Nelson said that partnering with KGI followed one of WASC’s established paths to accreditation.⁠[2][2][2][2][2][2][2]

KGI President Sheldon Schuster recalled in 2021 that a group of entrepreneurs had approached KGI in 2013 about incubating an undergraduate institution exploring active learning; he said it was not a financial arrangement.⁠[3][3]

In February 2014, the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) approved the affiliation between KGI and Minerva, allowing the establishment of Minerva Schools at KGI and approving its academic programs.⁠[4]

In 2014, Minerva Schools at KGI enrolled its first class of undergraduates, a cohort of only about 30 students. The school remained incubated by KGI until 2019.⁠[1][1][5]

After the first class graduated in 2019, the Minerva Institute for Research and Scholarship, a nonprofit established in 2013, took over responsibility for funding and operating Minerva Schools in July of that year, in preparation for independent accreditation.⁠[5][4]

For undergraduate entry in 2020, Minerva received about 25,000 applications from 180 countries and admitted only about 2% of applicants.⁠[1]

In June 2021, WSCUC granted Minerva initial accreditation for six years, recognizing it as an independent, freestanding accredited institution; Minerva Institute, the nonprofit operating Minerva Schools at KGI, thereby became Minerva University, which the school announced on July 22. The school said accreditation was the culmination of an eight-year process, with a review covering its curriculum, pedagogy, planning, faculty and staff, governance, finances, and student outcomes.⁠[4][5][6][6][6][6]

At that point, the school had graduated three undergraduate classes and three graduate classes, totaling more than 400 alumni; it had more than 600 students from over 80 countries, and undergraduates rotated through seven cities: Berlin, Buenos Aires, Hyderabad, London, San Francisco, Seoul, and Taipei. Ben Nelson was then Founder and Chancellor, and Teri Cannon was President.⁠[6][6][6][6][3]

In April 2022, Mike Magee, founding CEO of the education leadership organization Chiefs for Change, announced that he would step down on May 1 to become president of Minerva University. He had previously founded a network of charter schools. As of October 2026, Magee remained president.⁠[7][7][8]

The university had originally expected Minerva Project stock to provide $100 million in financial support: between fiscal years 2020 and 2022, it received a total of 10,876,910 shares of preferred and common stock, valued at about $60 million in June 2022. The university then sold part of the stock back to Minerva Project to settle debt between the two and to acquire the student information and admissions systems it uses; after a revaluation in July 2022, the remaining stock was worth $921,248, and the university intended to progressively write its fair value down to zero in its financial statements. To move away from reliance on this stock, the university made a significant shift in its financial operating model.⁠[5][5][5][5][5][5][5][5]

In 2023, the Minerva Institute for Research and Scholarship, which had been doing business as Minerva University, officially changed its name to Minerva University.⁠[4]

As announced on January 12, 2023, Netflix founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings donated $20 million to Minerva University; the university said the money would fund scholarships for students with high financial need, boost awareness and enrollment, and expand existing programs and create new ones. His previous donations had supported four-year scholarships for nearly 100 students. At the time, the university had more than 600 students and nearly 600 alumni.⁠[9][9][9][9][9]

In November 2024, Minerva submitted an interim report to WSCUC addressing four issues raised at initial accreditation: library resources, natural science courses without physical laboratories, transparency of tuition costs, and financial stability. In late November, WSCUC received three letters from faculty and staff, students, and alumni (dated September and October 2024 and first sent to the university’s board of trustees) expressing serious concerns about the institution’s leadership and culture. In January 2025, the WSCUC Executive Committee scheduled a special visit in response.⁠[5][5][5][5][5][5][5]

After receiving the letters, the board held meetings with all faculty and staff and commissioned an independent investigation by outside counsel overseen by the board’s Audit Committee; within one month of receiving the letters, the leadership structure was changed. The investigation found a shift from a collaborative to a hierarchical culture and a breakdown in communication; the board, together with the president, then appointed the former provost as interim provost and Accreditation Liaison Officer (ALO), instituted an annual review of the president, and appointed a board member as executive in residence to provide leadership coaching.⁠[5][5][5][5][5][5][5][5]

In fiscal year 2024, the university’s total operating expenditures exceeded total revenues by nearly 36%, and the actual deficit exceeded the budgeted deficit by 26%, primarily because philanthropic goals were not met.⁠[5][5][5]

From December 2 to 5, 2025, a WSCUC team conducted a special visit to the university, focusing on five areas: the financial model, institutional communication and organizational culture, cost of attendance, library resources, and the natural science curriculum and laboratory experiences. Undergraduate enrollment in fall 2025, including visiting scholars, was 572, down from 632 in fiscal year 2025; changes to U.S. visa policy raised the summer 2025 “melt” of newly admitted students to nearly 20%, compared with under 10% in previous years.⁠[10][10][10][10][5][5][5]

On December 18, 2025, the university announced that its San Francisco student housing would move from Turk Street to a newly leased residence at 2550 Van Ness Ave., with the move to be completed before the start of the next term.⁠[11]

On February 13, 2026, the WSCUC Commission acted on the special visit, affirming Minerva University’s accreditation and rescheduling its reaffirmation review to an offsite review in fall 2027 and an accreditation visit in spring 2028. The commission commended the board’s decisive response to the letters of concern and its commissioning of an independent investigation, as well as the university’s restructuring of its executive team and improved transparency of costs, while requiring the university to continue implementing its plan to strengthen its finances and to further develop its policies, organizational structure, and processes.⁠[12][4][10][10][10][10][10][10][10][10]

On September 22, 2026, the university announced that it ranked No. 1 among Regional Colleges in the West in the 2027 U.S. News Best Colleges rankings; it reported a four-year graduation rate of 79% and said it had been named the world’s most innovative university by the World University Rankings for Innovation (WURI) for the fifth consecutive year.⁠[13][13][13]

Minerva has no lectures; classes are active, discussion-based seminars in which students analyze, debate, and apply knowledge in real time. The university has no faculty buildings or exams, and all teaching is done through online video classes. First-year students follow a single common program focused on transferable skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, with courses named “multimodal communications,” “empirical analyses,” and “complex systems”; students choose their majors in the second year.⁠[14][1][1][1][1]

Undergraduates move to a new city each year, living together in university residence halls. As of October 2026, the four stops were, in order, San Francisco, Tokyo, Buenos Aires, and a European city (previously Berlin or London); around 2020, students also studied in Seoul, Hyderabad, and Taipei. Graduate and executive education programs rely mainly on short immersive experiences of about one week.⁠[15][15][15][15][15][15][1][15]

The university is located at 14 Mint Plaza in San Francisco, which is its main campus and only approved location; it does not participate in U.S. federal Title IV student financial aid programs. As of October 2026, the board chair was Diane Tavenner, and the leadership team included President Mike Magee and Chief Academic Officer Dollie Davis; the Minerva name, logo, and trade dress are trademarks of Minerva Project.⁠[16][5][5][17][8][17]

The university says its students come from more than 100 countries, with about 85% from outside the United States.⁠[14][14]

Minerva University: Official website: https://www.minerva.edu/ (opens in a new window).⁠[12]

X: Public account: https://x.com/MinervaUni (opens in a new window)⁠[16]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/school/minerva-university (opens in a new window)⁠[16]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/MinervaUni (opens in a new window)⁠[16]