Jay Halfond: It seems unusual—if not courageous—to create a new academic enterprise in the 21st century. How did this come about?

Adam Bush: College Unbound started in 2009 embedded within other existing institutions, willing to incorporate our pathway to support nontraditional students. We saw our curriculum fulfilling a need not met elsewhere. As our student profile became clearer–adult learners seeking in community-based learning–we found that existing institutions weren’t willing to sufficiently adjust to meet their needs. We hadn’t been able to subvert things working inside on the margins of institutional partners. Consequently, we were recognized as an independent institution in 2015, which put us on a timeline to become accredited and eligible for federal financial aid.

Jay Halfond: What are you subverting?

Adam Bush: We subvert what is understood as higher education, by creating ways to honor the complicated lives of lifelong learners. We are creating, through our graduates, a new higher education professional class who had been affected and sometimes traumatized by traditional higher education.

As a jazz historian, I’ve tried to institutionalize an ethic of improvisation at College Unbound–always evolving to meet the needs of students. Adult learners for us means those who do not see their identity revolving around an on-campus college experience. Three-quarters of our students are parents or caregivers, 79% students of color, and 51% impacted by some carceral experience. Given their complicated lives, we create condition for folks to tell us their story of learning–and find ways to document and credit that learning.

Jay Halfond: To what end? What is your longer-term vision?

Adam Bush: College Unbound embraces the principles of community organizing. Learners gather in communities of practice—connected by place or purpose in 10-student cohorts within various locales—in educational settings, public housing, libraries, through employers or sectors, wherever these cohorts can gather. If you have five friends who don’t have a bachelor’s degree, I want your kitchen table to be where the college is. CU is a platform that mirrors the ways we always learn—and there’s no reason that can’t continue to grow nationwide.

Jay Halfond: And then how do you launch their education?

Adam Bush: Students start with a community ambassador—our version of an admissions officer—and articulate what they want to get out of a degree, especially if they have a work project they would like to advance. The first assignment in any class is to have a one-on-one meeting with their professor. Then, every professor redesigns the last six weeks of any eight-week course based on these discussions.

Jay Halfond: Given your staffing needs, how do you fund College Unbound?

Adam Bush: Our full-time tuition is about $11,000—Pell Grants can cover about $7,400 of this. But our operating expenses per student are much more. So we actively fundraise by seeking out employer and sector partnerships to cover students’ costs.

Jay Halfond: Through these in-person student cohorts and online courses, where is College Unbound located?

Adam Bush: Along with Rhode Island, we support students in Philadelphia, Camden, Wilmington, Greenville, Chicago, and Seattle–and I am committed to bringing us to the rural South as well.

Jay Halfond: Though I appreciate your effort not to become too solidified, what are your ongoing, persistent principles?

Adam Bush: We have a “Big Ten” set of leadership and change competencies established and always revisited by our community to guide a student’s curriculum. In my case, I believe in the transformative power of higher education, grounded in the principles of liberatory learning, improvisation, and deep relationality. I’m excited for our world to have more of these opportunities. College Unbound reminds us of our investment in one another, what we care about that holds us together and allows us to speak across our differences.