Is College Really Necessary? Why Elon Musk Doesn’t Think It Is [VIDEO]

On Monday, Elon Musk gave an audience at the Satellite 2020 conference a lesson on life and, in particular, college life.

The CEO has been open about his views on college, despite job descriptions for SpaceX requiring a bachelor’s degree and, in some instances, prefer a master’s degree. But when asked why his personal stance on college doesn’t align with SpaceX’s job requirements, Musk responded by saying that college is unnecessary because “you can learn anything you want for free.”

He continued by saying, “I think college is basically for fun and to prove that you can do your chores, but they’re not for learning.”

For Musk, college is about discipline, such as learning to complete “annoying homework assignments.”

To work at Tesla (TSLA), Musk said the main requirement is “exceptional ability.” He said, “I don’t consider going to college evidence of exceptional ability. In fact, ideally you dropped out.”

Musk has two bachelor’s degrees – one from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and another from the University of Pennsylvania. Musk did reportedly drop out of the Ph.D. program at Stanford two days after enrolling.

Musk also cited Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, and Steve Jobs as “smart guys” that dropped out of college. He also mentioned Shakespeare, who he said probably didn’t go to college either.

Shares of Tesla stock were up 5.33% as of 3:31 p.m. EDT on Tuesday.