Interim Dean of the Dougherty Family College Buffy Smith

In the News: Dr. Buffy Smith on the Dougherty Family College

Interim Dean of the Dougherty Family College Dr. Buffy Smith wrote a piece for Insight News on how the Dougherty Family College is designed to help BIPOC students earn their college degrees.

From the article: As the interim dean of Dougherty Family College, I am proud to see that our average two-year graduation rate at Dougherty is 57% compared to the 31% average Minnesota community college three-year graduation rate (MN Office of Higher Education). In addition, 71% of Dougherty Family College alumni are either enrolled in a bachelor’s degree program or have graduated with their bachelor’s degrees. That’s quite the feat for the young college, which launched in 2017 and has had three graduating classes.

Dougherty Family College is an equity mission-driven college created to specifically address the educational attainment gap and workforce gap in the state of Minnesota. It offers the same general and rigorous core courses as the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of St. Thomas, with lower tuition. Almost 50% of our scholars pay approximately $1,030 out of pocket for tuition and fees. This low cost is made possible because of the generosity of our partners and the internal investments of the University of St. Thomas because they believe in our model.