Apple employees Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre have been planning an undergraduate academy for entrepreneurs at the University of Southern California for a few years now, and this week the Beats co-founders officially broke ground for the project, ABC reports.
Named the “Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation,” the 10,000-square foot academy is expected to open fall 2019 with a focus on art and design, engineering and computer science, and business. Back in 2014, Iovine said during an interview that the school would combine business and technology programs with an “arts and cultural component,” something he said other similar programs were lacking.
The academy’s official website describes the curriculum as a Bachelor of Science in Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation degree that “offers a highly select group of students an integrated, four-year course of study that provides in-depth learning in three essential areas: art and design; engineering and computer science; and business and venture management.”
While the new building won’t be ready until late 2019, the academy is already running programs at other buildings at USC with a group of students graduating next year. Iovine and Young donated $70 million towards the construction of the new building and program when the project first started back in 2013.
We promised nothing less than a new paradigm (at the launch of @USCIovineYoung)… today we break ground on the next step. -USC Pres Nikias pic.twitter.com/L4ZLF2v0K6
— USC (@USC) October 11, 2017
