Steve Jobs attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon, starting in 1972. However, he dropped out after just one semester (about six months) because he felt the classes were not meaningful to him and he did not want to burden his parents with the expensive tuition. Despite officially dropping out, he continued to audit classes that interested him, such as calligraphy, which later influenced the design of Apple products. He also stayed around campus for about 18 months after dropping out, living informally and continuing to learn on his own terms