Gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton on Friday unveiled a proposal to establish a tuition-free business school in East Los Angeles, specifically for income-qualified students across California. The plan, if implemented, aims to provide an elite educational pathway to students from working-class communities within the region.
Hilton's campaign stated that prominent institutions such as UCLA, USC, and Claremont McKenna College, along with other universities, would be invited to compete to become the founding academic partner for the proposed school. The institution would be designed to offer several key components to its students, including paid internships with California companies, mentorship opportunities, and a dedicated business incubator. Additionally, the proposal includes privately backed seed funding to support student ventures, fostering entrepreneurship from within the school.
In a statement, Hilton emphasized the existing potential within the community, noting that "talent is already in East LA." He added that what is currently absent is the same standard, network, and expectation often taken for granted by individuals growing up in areas like Palo Alto. Hilton articulated the proposal's intent to equip students from working-class backgrounds with access to high-quality business education and concrete opportunities to establish their own companies.
Hilton further commented that California does not need additional programs that merely train young people for jobs that others have decided are realistic for them. Instead, he argued, East Los Angeles requires an elite school focused on teaching students the comprehensive skills needed to found a company, secure its financing, build it, and ultimately lead it to success. He stated his belief that young people should aspire to create the next great California company, and that this school would provide a path from working class to founder class, matching talent with opportunity.
If elected governor, Hilton said he would seek to fund the East Los Angeles pilot program in his first state budget. The funding mechanism would involve combining existing state higher-education and workforce resources with matching support secured from the university partner, various employers, and philanthropic organizations. His campaign clarified that the proposal would not create a new state bureaucracy nor impose any new taxes. However, the campaign did not provide a projected cost for either establishing the school or covering its ongoing operating expenses.
The initial class for the proposed business school would commence during Hilton's first term in office, according to his campaign. Should the East Los Angeles program prove successful, the model could potentially be expanded to other communities across California, offering similar opportunities.
Hilton's Democratic opponent, former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, had not immediately responded to a request for comment from Hilton's campaign regarding the proposal.