After being turned down by every college he applied to, Bartleby Gaines (played by Justin Long) creates a fake rejection letter from the fictional South Harmon Institute of Technology and shows it to his parents. His parents are disappointed and Bartleby is desperate for a way out of trouble. In an effort to convince his parents that he is still going to college, Bartleby and his friends create a fake college website and a brochure for the South Harmon Institute of Technology.
However, things get out of hand when hundreds of other rejected students also receive this fake rejection letter and arrive at the S.H.I.T campus, thinking it is a real college. To keep up the facade, Bartleby and his friends create a makeshift campus, hire a group of weird, unqualified professors and invent subjects like “Theory of Advanced Individual Study” and “Psychology of Climate Change”.
Further, the school gains official recognition by the state board, they start to receive funding and even a building is built to accommodate the influx of students. But things begin to unravel when the real college admissions officer becomes suspicious and threatens to shut down the campus. In an act of desperation, Bartleby and his team stage a fake accreditation inspection to keep S.H.I.T. open and running.
The movie concludes on a positive note with the students of S.H.I.T creating their own curriculum, motivating themselves, and eventually getting hired by several top companies. The film imparts a valuable lesson that success is not determined by what college people go to, rather by how motivated and dedicated they are towards their goals.