Oaksterdam University

10/13/2026

Where do you see yourself in the industry?
In the garden? Running the business? In the lab?

Swipe → to explore every Oaksterdam department and the paths you can take in each one. Join 100,000+ alumni in 110 countries who started right here.

Want to grow like a pro? Start where the pros learned.

Oaksterdam was the world's first college to offer hands-on cultivation training, and our courses are still taught by the biggest names in the industry.

Pick your path:

Horticulture Mastery: Go deep on science, industry trends, commercial logistics, and best practices. For people who want to know it all.

Commercial Cultivation: Get hired, get promoted, or build your grow business plan in the licensed market.

Home Grow: Simple, step-by-step guidance for indoor, outdoor, and greenhouse grows, plus extraction.

Breeding with James Loud: Learn to create your own unique cultivars from a true industry legend. Great for solo growers and teams.

We also offer a FREE weekly Hort Lab for current students and alumni, which is a great opportunity to network and gain expert guidance. Every course is regularly updated to keep up with the industry, with safety and compliance built in.

👇 Comment "GROW" and we'll DM you the link.

Which one are you choosing? Tell us below!

The first public storefront dispensaries opened in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1990s, and Oaksterdam faculty helped write the standards and practices that retail shops around the world still follow today.

Our retail courses prepare you for one of the most important jobs in the industry: guiding customers to the right products, safely and compliantly.

Pick your path:

Budtending & Retail Work: Recommend products with confidence, stay compliant, boost sales, and stand out on the job.

Retail Management: Learn what it takes to run a licensed dispensary.

Security for Dispensary Workers with Sapphire Risk: Train your team to play an active role in security and loss prevention.

State-Specific Training: Budtender and management training tailored to state law, now available for California, Connecticut, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Utah.

Every course is regularly updated to keep

09/14/2026

Congress returns from recess today, September 14, amid a pretty major election season, and now is the time to push Congress to end the parallel market farces and right the cannabis economy by sending legislation that deschedules cannabis to ’s desk. We should also be pushing candidates on both sides of the aisle to commit to supporting the full and complete de-scheduling as we move from these critical midterms into the 2028 Presidential .elections.

At Oaksterdam, advocacy to end Prohibition has always been at the heart of what we do, and we have always encouraged our students to get involved in the political process. We are giving away our Economics of the Cannabis Industry Course for free from today through September 20, so you can take it and also offer it to your representatives and local candidates, too.

Comment “Econ” to get this class for free and share it with your representatives and those who are campaigning to represent you.

08/24/2026

Could cannabis legalization take away sovereign tribal business advantages in cannabis?

Keith Justin Anderson is an attorney specializing in Federal Tribal law, with an emphasis on Tribal economic development and sovereign financing. Since 2011, Keith has facilitated over one billion dollars of investment in reservation economies from private equity sources, government programs, and commercial lending through his firm Aim Law.

Want to watch the full workshop to learn more? Comment “Replay” and we will DM you the link.

08/06/2026

Today, when most people hear the terms “budtender” and “dispensary," they know they refer to a retail store and the people who work in them. What you might not know is where the terms came from and why we use them....

Although the school was formally established in 2007, Oaksterdam’s founders opened some of the world’s first cannabis retail storefronts in the mid 1990s in downtown Oakland—before California legalized medical use in 1996. 

Jeff Jones launched the Oakland C Buyers’ Cooperative (OCBC) in 1995 as a bike-delivery service and converted it into a storefront on July 4, 1996. In November, California voters passed Proposition 215, legalizing medical ma*****na and igniting the national movement towards law reform. At OCBC, Jeff and his team considered themselves “therapeutic counselors” because, when they provided patients with C, they found they also needed to provide extensive guidance. 

“We would completely unveil what c@nn@b!s could be for patients — edibles, pills, flowers, vaporizing. We guided them to the solution that fit their needs.” 

Photo: Oaksterdam founders Richard Lee, Dale Sky Jones and Jeff Jones 

Jeff says the terms “budtender” and “dispensary” originated in conversations with Oaksterdam University’s other co-founder, Richard Lee, about how distribution was evolving in the semi-legal California market. 

“Richard really liked the idea of making [dispensaries] like a bar and calling it a ‘bud bar, Jeff recalls. “I always described it more like a dispensary—a medical office where patients received medicine based on their doctor’s recommendation.”

Both Jeff and Richard’s terminology stuck, and today the budtender fills the same critical void for consumers by helping them navigate cannabis sold in dispensaries.

Budtenders are the most influential people in the industry because they interact with consumers every day. Because of their outsized role in the supply chain, it is vital that budtenders know how to provide real, meaningful product guidance without making things up or becoming a liability by dispensing unqualified medical advice. 

Oaksterdam University trained the world’s first budtenders, and we continue to train the world’s b

06/27/2026

06/27/2026

05/07/2026

In 2015, the wrote a "fight song" for after OU Chancellor said some of the biggest opponents to reform said OU wasn't a real school until it had a "fight song"... so the Dartmouth Glee Club wrote and performed one!

This fight song is finally about to really meet its moment! The .ballers are about to play as the " " with Oaksterdam on their jerseys. Check out OaklandBallers.com to find out when you can come see them "blaze a path" for

05/04/2026

The City of is our birthplace, and together we played the most critical role in global legalization. Our growers, small businesses and advocates made good green and legalization happen. (You're welcome!)

We made downtown Oakland the public face of the movement and gave our legendary community the platform that changed the world.

We are thrilled to promote our legendary operators and businesses through the campaign. You know a product came from a verified Oakland equity operator when you see the certification mark on the package.

You can show that you hella love The Town and its legendary green operators by requesting your dispo carry Oakland Legendary products, or by picking up some Oakland Legendary swag produced locally by

Learn more at www.legendary.green

04/21/2026

The Legends Who Built Cannabis Culture Are Finally Certified. It’s Called Oakland Legendary.

“Today, the Oakland Legendary label puts power back where it belongs, helping consumers make informed choices and ensuring those most impacted are leading and thriving in today’s economy.”

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee

Read more at Oaksterdam.com/blog

04/10/2026

The Minnesota Office of C@nn@ Management (OCM) announced that Oaksterdam University has been selected to administer the state’s CanGrow grant program to help farmers enter or expand into the cannabis industry.

Oaksterdam will support up to 15 Minnesota farmers in developing and maintaining cultivation plans. This is more than a requirement—it is a roadmap for business development and implementing SOPs that increase efficiencies, reduce waste, and help the business stay compliant. We pair our industry-recognized Horticulture Mastery Certification with coaching from our Chair of Horticulture, Joey Ereñeta, and Minnesota attorney and business consultant, Jen Reise.

Are you or do you know a farmer in Minnesota who may be interested and qualify? Comment below, share, or email us at [email protected]