HispanicBusiness

DENVER, CO -- (Marketwire) -- 10/23/12 -- Today, MyCollege Foundation and Mount St. Mary's College, Los Angeles, announced the launch of Portmont College at Mount St. Mary's, to offer high-quality, transfer-level Associate degrees to high-potential students who have "the will but not the way" to college success. With all-in costs of $5,240 per student per year -- approximately the amount of a Federal Pell Grant, Portmont College at Mount St. Mary's will provide access to quality personalized learning solutions and comprehensive wrap-around support services that will ensure high persistence and graduation levels. The MyCollege Foundation concept was developed during the founder's time as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has also provided early grant support. Portmont College has been developed in close partnership with Mount St. Mary's College, which is ranked among the top 30 regional universities in the West by US News & World Report. Mount St. Mary's College is a regionally accredited institution and Portmont students will be eligible to receive Title IV funds while attending the college.

"Portmont is designed to be the springboard for those young adults who have the grit and determination to succeed, but who face burdens and barriers, financial or otherwise, that could limit that success," said Srikant Vasan, Founder and President of Portmont College at Mount St. Mary's. "In partnership with Mount St. Mary's College, we have created top quality, yet affordable, Associate's degree programs that combine rigorous academics with critical supports and resources to ensure students can not only access, but complete the high-quality education necessary to build careers and create futures for themselves."

"Portmont offers a degree attainment option for underserved students through a scalable and cost-effective model," said Josh Jarrett, Deputy Director of Postsecondary Success, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "We are pleased to see this idea, conceived while Srikant was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the foundation, come to life. This model is designed to deliver a rigorous academic program for students who have more motivation than means and connect them to opportunities they wouldn't otherwise have."

"Mount St. Mary's has had a longstanding commitment to educating the underserved. This new, exciting partnership brings this commitment and our top-quality curriculum together with Portmont's innovations in pedagogy, technology, and student supports to offer a high quality, personalized educational experience to thousands of new students. The launch of Portmont College at Mount St. Mary's will help address the national challenge of broadening access to high quality education at lower costs," said Dr. Ann McElaney-Johnson, President of Mount St. Mary's College.

Building Capabilities Needed For Long-Term Success

The college anticipates launching four blended Associate degree programs that combine the best of personalized online education with in-person student cohorts, supports, and social learning opportunities: Business Administration, Computer Science, Liberal Arts, and Pre-Health Science. These programs have been uniquely developed with Portmont's target student population in mind. From its personalized learning environment that tracks mastery of course material to prescriptive course sequencing and social and problem-based learning approaches, the Portmont experience has been carefully designed to ensure its students' success and prepare its graduates to transfer to an elite four-year degree institution or launch their career.