Non-profit Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Helps Students With “The Will But Not The Way” Earn Capabilities-Based, Affordable Associates Degrees

1. Mycollege Foundation Partners with Mount St. Mary’s College to
Launch Portmont College
Non-profit Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Helps Students With “The Will But
Not The Way” Earn Capabilities-Based, Affordable Associates Degrees
Denver, CO, October 24, 2012 - 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.

2. 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.
The hallmark of the Portmont College at Mount St. Mary’s curriculum is its focus on core
capabilities that students will need for long-term career success. This includes curriculum
designed to advance skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, communications, information
literacy, teamwork, performance character, and learning to learn. Unlike other institutions, these
core capabilities are not only taught, but developed and measured at a student level multiple
times within each course. Students, their potential employers, and the Portmont community of
support will consistently have visibility into a student’s progress along these core capabilities.
“Portmont students will graduate with not just a high quality, respected degree, but also the
ability to think clearly, work well in teams, and communicate effectively,” said Srikant Vasan.
“They will have what they need to succeed in the workforce and in their communities.”
Creating Meaningful Connections
Portmont students will be part of a connected, supportive community of faculty, coaches, and
peers. It starts with the Portmont “Success Launch Process,” which goes beyond the cognitive
topics typically addressed by college success courses and utilizes a series of four courses to
develop intrapersonal and interpersonal skills correlated to work and life success. Before being
accepted to Portmont, prospective students attend the “Launch Pad” – a free three-week online
course that provides an opportunity for the college to observe students’ online course taking
behavior first-hand, as student behavior is one of the primary criteria for gaining admission into
the full Portmont program. If successful, students will advance to “Ignition” – an intensive in-
person, one-week experiential learning program to absorb the college culture, and bond with
their Success Coach and the 15 cohort peers who will form their support community. These
student cohorts start coursework together and provide mutual help and support through social
media tools. During the students’ first two academic terms they will continue the sequence in the
“Lift Off” and “Soar” courses to reinforce the concepts learned in prior courses and provide
ongoing support. Throughout their Portmont experience, students will have a personal support
network of success coaches and faculty who will continually tailor proactive interventions using
student-specific academic and behavioral data.
Portmont College at Mount St. Mary’s will work with community partners, such as charter schools,
public schools, and community organizations to identify students with grit and determination but
also the burdens and barriers to success. The admissions team will evaluate candidates based
primarily on their grit, motivation, and resilience. Given the community-centricity and the need for
holistic, blended student supports, Portmont will launch and grow city-by-city starting in Denver,
Colorado, and followed next by San Francisco, California. Once the model is working well in
Denver and San Francisco, Portmont plans to admit students from additional cities nationwide.
Cultivating a Student-Centric Team
In addition to the administrative and faculty leadership at Mount St. Mary’s College, which has
been intimately involved in the development and approval of its curriculum, Portmont College at
Mount St. Mary’s assembled a team of seasoned professionals, including:
* Srikant Vasan, President: Former Senior program officer at Gates Foundation, co-founder & CEO
of StorePerform and KBkids, Founding team member and director of business development of
MediaOne, Consultant at McKinsey & Co.
* Dr. Vernon Smith, Provost: Former Vice President of Academic Affairs at Rio Salado College, a

3. nationally recognized online college with tens of thousands of online students. Serves on the
board of directors of EDUCAUSE.
* Dr. Michael Cottam, Dean of Instruction: Former Associate Dean of Instruction at Rio Salado
College and a certified Quality Matters Reviewer.
* Lucas Budman, Chief Technology Officer: Former Vice President and Head of Technology for
Cognilytics, Director of Research for RedPrairie and Store Perform Technologies and Senior
Architect for Xcel Energy Markets.
* Ann Marie O’Connor, Vice President of Product Management: Former Director of Retail Strategy
at RedPrairie and product management for StorePerform.
* Dr. Jim Knickerbocker, Director of Student Engagement: Former Managing Director of Academy
for College Excellence, Organizational development consultant at Hewlett-Packard.
* Shannon Neumann, Director of Enrollment Management: Former Director of Enrollment
Management for Ivy Bridge College of Tiffin University.
Portmont College at Mount St. Mary’s is now accepting student applications, and it will host its
first three-week Success Launch Pad Course in December with the first academic semester
beginning on March 4, 2013. Portmont will offer rolling admission there after.
About Portmont College at Mount St. Mary’s
Portmont College at Mount St. Mary’s is a non-profit joint venture between Mount St. Mary’s
College and MyCollege Foundation. Through Mount St. Mary’s College, a national, non-profit,
regionally accredited institution, it offers 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 – students have
affordable access to quality personalized learning solutions, comprehensive wrap-around support
services, and post-program placement, ensuring high persistence and graduation levels. For more
information, visit portmont.la.edu.
About Mount St. Mary’s, Los Angeles;
Founded in 1925, Mount St. Mary’s College is a Catholic, liberal arts college where excellence and
innovation define its every endeavor. Mount St. Mary’s provides a dynamic education to a diverse
student body that primarily includes women, first-generation students and other underserved
populations. Mount St. Mary’s offers associate and bachelor’s degrees for women, as well as
undergraduate and graduate programs for working adults on two historic campuses in Los
Angeles. The mission of Mount St. Mary’s is to provide a superior education enhanced by an
emphasis on building leadership skills and fostering a spirit to serve others.
About MyCollege Foundation:
MyCollege Foundation, is a 501c(3) public charity and a grantee of the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation. It aims to help low-income youth in America gain high quality college credentials
more affordably. It has partnered with Mount St. Mary’s College to establish Portmont College at
Mount St. Mary’s, and provides Portmont College with the funding and the pedagogical,
technology, and student support innovations it needs to succeed in its mission.
Contact:
Lindsey Read
CSG PR
3225 East 2nd Avenue
Denver, CO 80206
937 408 9321

4. lread@csg-pr.com
http://www.csg-pr.com
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