Interview with the Chancellor of Minerva, Ben Nelson

Today we’re talking to founder and chancellor of Minerva, Ben Nelson. Minerva was founded in 2012 and was an approved program of an accredited institution, but was not accredited itself. Ben says Minerva chose to pursue the accreditation route to prove that they have all the same constraints as other institutions, but are still way more effective. Having just announced its accreditation last week, Ben says he didn’t expect to feel the way he did. He says he found himself thinking, ‘Okay, that’s it, now there’s nowhere to hide’. But he reminds himself that just means they have to constantly up their game. Ben says he’s not here to disrupt the education system, he’s here to reform. He doesn’t think higher ed is broken beyond repair. He just thinks it needs to be recentered on wisdom, not only on the transmission of knowledge.

Ben says they admit 100% of qualified students, but that their qualifications are extremely high. With 80% of its students unable to afford the already low tuition, Minerva has to raise a lot of money. Ben says they’re happy to raise the funds and still don’t plan to tap into any federal funds that are now available to them. Title IV funds have many issues, with a main one being the cost of compliance. Ben says when you actually look at the small amount available for Pell grants, the cost of compliance doesn’t seem worth it. Not to mention, Minerva serves a global population, with only 12% of its students being from the US. The federal aid would only be available to those students. So it was compliance costs and the different experiences for global students that kept Minerva from wanting to accept federal money.

Minerva is different in many ways, but the core thing that sets them apart is their intentional education model. Everything in the four years is designed intentionally and builds upon itself. For example, in your first year you have no choice for your classes, everyone must learn metacognitive tools. Your influence on your courses grows each year, with your fourth year being completely customizable. With other institutions, all classes are independent and vary by instructor; sometimes they don’t line up. At Minerva, there is purpose from the beginning through the end in both curriculum and experience. Ben says it’s an intellectual journey and the professors are there to make sure students are optimizing that journey.