Mountain View Working Scholars

Accelerating local workforce development via technology-education-community partnership.

Mountain View Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation and Mountain View technology company, Study.com, are thrilled to announce an unprecedented workforce development initiative. Together, we are offering the opportunity for anybody working in Mountain View to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Business - at little to no cost.

Our shared goal is to dramatically reduce the time and cost it takes to earn a business degree through technology - thereby propelling our community’s economic productivity and equalizing access to prosperity for our local workforce.

Connecting our Local Workforce to Economic Opportunity

Mountain View is a global epicenter of economic opportunity - and arguably The Epicenter. With its proximity to world-class research institutions, access to venture capital, high quality of life, highly educated workforce, and history of technological innovation, Mountain View is one of the most affluent communities in the country and world. However, not everyone who lives or works in Mountain View has equal access to the region’s prosperity. Local policy makers are looking for short-term solutions to economic inequality through increases in minimum wage and various rent protection measures. As well-intentioned as these measures may be, long-term ​economic productivity​ is driven through higher levels of educational attainment.

Education is the great equalizer

A college degree is the key to unlocking an individual's economic potential, but high tuition costs and juggling work and family commitments often prevent working adults from obtaining this life-shaping credential.

We recognize several things:

1. Education is a critical factor in a person’s ability to greater contribute to and benefit from our economy - ​increasing individual earning potential​ anywhere from 42-67%
2. Many people without college degrees once began their pursuit but did not finish to take care of family or other external pressures.
3. Some people would excitedly finish their degree if certain time and cost barriers were removed.

Removing Barriers to Earning a College Degree

The most commonly cited reasons for not completing a college degree are inconvenience and cost. Mountain View Working Scholars removes all of these barriers by providing a flexible online platform for learning. Students can make progress towards their degree in their free time, on their mobile phone, without having to commute to class or study at a particular time. This anytime, anywhere access is critical to individuals juggling school with work and family obligations.

The program addresses the college affordability issue, by using online course and alternative credit to dramatically reduce the cost of a degree. Study.com is waiving the normal fee of $199/month to access 70 popular college courses, making 75% of the degree completely free. Through Study.com’s partnership with Thomas Edison State University, students can complete their remaining degree requirements for a bachelor’s degree in business online for $3,500 to $5,000. The goal for our education foundation is to provide scholarships to pay for these remaining fees for Mountain View Working Scholars participants.

About the Partnership

Study.com’s ​Mountain View Working Scholars​ program is designed to help people who work in the community earn a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. Study.com offers over 70 flexible, online college courses that students can transfer to over 2,000 colleges and universities, including our partner Thomas Edison State University. ​Learn more about Study.com college credit​. Their college courses consist of a sequence of short, 5-minute video lessons that you can watch on your phone or computer. Students can study in five minute bursts or for hours at a time - the schedule and pace is up to each student. ​Read more about Study.com​.

Thomas Edison State University provides flexible, high-quality, collegiate learning opportunities for self-directed adults. One of New Jersey's 11 senior public institutions of higher education, the University offers undergraduate and graduate programs in more than 100 areas of study. For more than 40 years, the University has served as New Jersey's only institution dedicated exclusively to adults. Today, the University remains a pioneer in the use of the latest technologies to develop and deliver academic programs that work around the unique needs of adult learners and continues to serve as a national leader in the assessment of adult learning, including professional and military training and college-level knowledge acquired outside the classroom. Read more about TESU.

In August 2016, Study.com and TESU were selected by the U.S. Department of Education for the EQUIP experiment, a program opening up Pell Grant funding to non-traditional providers like Study.com and further expanding student access to alternative degree paths. Read More.

Mountain View Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation​ is a charitable 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission it is to support education through scholarships, mentoring, and leadership programs. The foundation is dedicated to people who live or work in Mountain View. Mountain View Chamber of Commerce​ members are helping the initiative by making donations to the Mountain View Education Foundation’s scholarship program and by connecting their employees to Mountain View Working Scholars. The Chamber recognizes the potential for MVWS to serve its mission of enhancing the local environment in which business can succeed. "The Mountain View Working Scholars program is a prime example of what happens when Silicon Valley innovation is applied to bringing the world of higher education into the century it belongs. This partnership between Thomas Edison State University and Study.com will allow the people of Mountain View, who work so diligently to keep their city running strong, to obtain the college degrees they need and deserve to advance their own lives and careers.” 

- Marc Singer, Vice Provost, Center for the Assessment of Learning at Thomas Edison State University