Acid Horizon Research Commons Scholarship & PWYW Policy

Updated August 19, 2026

Overview

The Acid Horizon Research Commons is committed to making our courses accessible to a wide range of participants. For select multi-week classes, we reserve a portion of seats for scholarship or Pay What You Want (PWYW) recipients, ensuring that financial barriers do not prevent committed learners from joining. Our teachers are available to all participants, including scholarship and PWYW recipients, for questions and engagement throughout the class, with many offering feedback on writing participants develop during or shortly after the course.

Ethos

At the heart of our course series is a simple commitment: the people who teach should not be asked to subsidize accessibility with their own labor. That commitment exists alongside another truth worth stating plainly: an abundance of what we offer is already free. The Acid Horizon podcast and many of its extended engagements provide numerous free points of engagement, including podcast episodes, interviews, in-person events, and free online public panels. Our multi-week courses are where that access model encounters a different reality: thoughtful, sustained, structured teaching takes real time and expertise, and that labor deserves fair compensation.

Our pricing is intentionally tiered across a range of income levels as a practical implementation of our ethos. Every full-price seat helps ensure our teachers are compensated fairly for the expertise and preparation they bring to each course, and it is precisely that support that allows us to open scholarship and PWYW seats for those who genuinely cannot pay. In this sense, paid enrollment is not separate from our access mission. It is what makes that mission possible. Each course, in effect, is crowdfunded by its own participants: those who can pay create the limited seats for those who can't, and in doing so sustain both the teacher's livelihood and the future of the series itself.

Course Eligibility

Not every course will offer scholarship or PWYW seats. Whether a given course offers them depends on a variety of factors, including the type of course, whether early enrollment has already produced an abundance of funded seats, and the discretion of the teacher leading the class. Scholarship and PWYW availability is decided on a class-by-class basis each time a course is offered.

Scholarship Seats

When offered, scholarship seats will generally range from one to five per course. Priority is given to long-term Patreon subscribers (free or paid) who demonstrate enthusiasm for the material and can articulate specific research goals they hope to fulfill by taking the course. We don't require applicants to share personal details about their financial situation. We simply trust that if someone is applying, it's because paying full tuition would be a genuine burden. When scholarship spots become available, we'll open a short application window and select recipients based on the criteria above. Applications will ask for: 1) your background, 2) your interest in the topic, and 3) your commitment to attending all sessions and participating fully.

PWYW Seats

In lieu of, or occasionally alongside, scholarship seats, we may offer PWYW seats for a given class. When offered, PWYW seats will generally range from three to ten per course. Unlike scholarship seats, PWYW seats are not evaluated or awarded through an application process. When offered, they are simply made available for limited purchase, with no criteria, background, or commitment statement required. Once the available seats are claimed, the offering closes. As of August 2026, PWYW seats carry a $50 minimum contribution. All PWYW seats are non-refundable.

Seminar Contribution

In the event that a course includes a seminar portion alongside the lecture series, scholarship or PWYW recipients may be asked to contribute a presentation or short piece of writing to enrich the seminar experience.

Hardship Reserve Seats

In addition to our standard scholarship and PWYW spots, we keep a small number of Hardship Reserve Seats for students experiencing extraordinary circumstances. These are intended for situations where tuition would make participation impossible due to catastrophic events such as war, natural disaster, or sudden displacement. To request a Hardship Reserve Seat, please reach out to us directly for more information. We review these applications privately and with discretion, and we ask that this option be reserved for those whose circumstances are truly urgent and exceptional.

Timing & Announcements

Scholarship and PWYW seats are typically announced 2 to 7 days before the start of a class. The closing date for applications is announced at the same time, and typically falls 1 to 2 days before the class start date. Announcements are made on our Patreon account or in our Discord server. In most cases, announcements are made publicly across Patreon; however, not all subscriber tiers will be notified in every instance. In some cases, an offering may be announced only to contributing tiers on Patreon or in our Discord server.

Notification & Revocation

Recipients are notified privately. Scholarship and PWYW seats may be revoked at any time, for any reason, at the discretion of the teacher or AHRC administrators.

Supporting Scholarships

If you'd like to help make our courses more accessible by funding a scholarship for another student, we'd love to hear from you. You can reach us through the contact page on our website or email us directly at acidhorizonresearchcommons@gmail.com. We'd love to discuss how your support can directly benefit someone in our learning community.