Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Jensen.
Hi Jennifer, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Gordon Jones and I began to think about starting Mount Liberty College back in 2018. We could see a great need for a true classical liberal arts education in Utah. There are other schools offering this sort of education outside of Utah, like Hillsdale and St. John’s, but none here in the state. With the number of students, we have in Utah, we felt that there was a need for a liberal arts education at the college level.
Throughout that first year, we were finding like-minded people who wanted to help as well as doing all the paperwork and fundraising necessary to begin such a venture. By late summer of 2019, we had recruited our first freshman class of students, and in August we officially began our first year.
We are now in our third year with a small, elite student body at Mount Liberty College proving there is a need for what we offer. Our students are exceptional. They want to make a difference in the world and are earning an education that will help them reach their goals.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s always hard to get the word out about anything new. That has probably been our hardest struggle. Of course, Mount Liberty is not for everyone. It takes a lot of time and effort to gain a great education and not everyone wants to do the work involved. But those who understand the need for a classical leadership education are quick to share it with others.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
A Mount Liberty College education is all about preparing the leaders of tomorrow by helping them earn a great classical liberal arts education. In Mount Liberty College classrooms, you won’t find any textbooks. We teach our students through original sources, the Great Books, and other classics. Students read these great works and then come to class prepared to discuss and learn. At MLC, we are practicing a return to the real liberal arts curriculum, the one that produced Adam Smith, David Hume, James Madison, John Locke, and Thomas Jefferson.
Mount Liberty’s classical liberal arts degree is about earning a great education; a true leadership education. It’s not about job training, which is what the typical college degree is today. Society needs more than just worker bees to exist. We need entrepreneurs, leaders, and statesmen and they need more than just job training or STEM education. They need a leadership education, and MLC can fill that gap. There are essential skills business executives can’t find in typical college graduates and those are part of the education we specialize in: critical thinking and reasoning, problem-solving skills, a strong work ethic, analytical and qualitative skills, flexibility and adaptability, creativity, awareness of group dynamics, and understanding historical and cultural contexts, just to name a few.
Mount Liberty College’s goals include:
• Delivering a high-quality, principles-based education at a reasonable cost.
• Instilling a life-long appreciation for knowledge and faith.
• Inspiring an understanding and appreciation of wisdom and beauty that are common to the human experience.
• Encouraging students to be part of the great conversation concerning our freedoms and liberties with an understanding of the unique founding of the United States.
• Preparing students for further study and entrepreneurial pursuits.
• Providing a college degree required for today’s professional world, while providing the type of education and leadership skills needed to build tomorrow.
• Combining such education with moral and social instruction within a wholesome Judeo-Christian environment.
Quotes from a few of our students:
“It’s rare that a day passes that I don’t come across something we learned or discussed in class. Getting a liberal arts education is so valuable to me because it’s more than just training. It’s preparing me to be a leader wherever I go and giving me the knowledge necessary to navigate our world today.” ~ Ari J.
“The ability to think independently, recognize patterns, communicate one’s ideas effectively and clearly are skills that we practice every day and that will no doubt serve us very well in the future. Our goal is to be versatile and effective members of society.” ~ Ariella N.
“I want to thank you so much for establishing Mount Liberty College. This school has been an absolute God-given blessing for me. I think this is the first time in my life that I can say, wholeheartedly, that I LOVE school!” ~ Caleb C.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
When Gordon and I began to seriously discuss opening Mount Liberty, we started to connect with others and talk about this crazy idea of starting a college. Two people stepped up, caught the vision, and decided to help: David Gowdy with the George Washington Center for Constitutional Studies, and his partner Frank Brown, who subsequently became one of the trustees for MLC. Mount Liberty College would not have made it off the ground without their dedication and continued help.
Pricing:
- Tuition price: $2250 per semester
- Free to apply
Contact Info:
- Email: info@mountlibertycollege.,org
- Website: https://mountlibertycollege.org/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/mountlibertycollege
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mountlibertycollege
