[_delirium]

Do people actually hold that assumption to begin with? There are already plenty of examples of successful dropouts, Bill Gates being one of the more famous. They're talked about in mainstream media relatively frequently, and most Americans know about them. The skepticism is over what the odds are if an average person tries it without connections & assistance, not whether it's possible, especially if it's relatively few kids who are explicitly given money/connections/assistance. I don't see this initiative as doing much to address that particular piece of skepticism.

I don't even oppose Thiel's initiative, I just don't think it has particularly broad implications. If the non-college-attending kids in his program do well, a reasonable conclusion to draw is: if you have someone willing to give you $100k and introduce you to good business connections, in lieu of attending university, then that is quite possibly a good opportunity to take.

If you don't have such an offer, on the other hand...