This fall, Minnesota’s University of St. Thomas will open the doors to Dougherty Family College in Minneapolis, a two-year college within the university. Dougherty will welcome students from underserved communities in the Twin Cities area who might not otherwise have the chance to attend a four-year school.
In some respects, Dougherty Family College resembles a community college. Students will obtain an associate’s degree, and the school will be funded by an $18 million endowment, keeping tuition costs low. Yet in many other ways, it will not be the standard community college.
After earning an associate’s degree, students will be eligible to continue on to St. Thomas or transfer to another four-year institution. That mission of providing a pathway for students from underserved communities to obtain a bachelor’s degree is central to Dougherty’s foundational goals.
“One of the number one differentiators is that when we enroll a student, we enroll a student who is eager to complete a four-year degree,” said Alvin Abraham, founding dean of the college. “Not that other schools don’t, but that is our fundamental mission.”
To allow students to flourish, the school will remain small and offer intensive academic support. St. Thomas officials expect that the college will serve 300 students when it is at full capacity. Students will take classes in cohorts of 25, benefitting from wrap-around mentoring and advising services.
“Our small model allows for us to have a lot of the supports students may need to be really successful academically,” Abraham said.
Abraham comes to St. Thomas by way of KIPP Minnesota, where he was executive director and helped initiate the KIPP Through College for Minnesota program, which guides KIPP alumni through high school and on through the college selection process.
