Our curriculum will be determined by our Board of Directors, informed by our faculty, and independent of government mandates. In order to prepare our students to be self-reliant in a group-think world, we believe our course of study should include:
Reliance College is a residential college aimed at preparing young people for a self-reliant, entrepreneurial life, personally and professionally, wherever they choose to work. This means learning to see opportunity, and pursue goals confidently, without a need for the approval of others.
We want Reliance College graduates to enter the world as self-reliant individuals with the spirit and competence to direct their own lives.
We seek students, parents, and grandparents who want an education that thoughtfully and actively prepares young people to flourish in life— intellectually, morally, socially, and practically. We are looking for people who want more than vocational training or ideological programming. We want people who want to think for themselves and pursue their own happiness. We want people who expect to pay a reasonable price for a real education rather than a price inflated by no longer deserved prestige.
Many young people haven’t had the opportunity or the experiences needed to learn how to judge what’s best for themselves. If you’re one of them, our program will save you grief by helping you figure out what direction you should take and how to go about taking it before you waste valuable time and money.
Students learn to think for themselves as well as implement ideas in the real world.
Achievement and success require the vision of the possible and the ability to weather the actual.
Our approach is deeply informed by the Montessori educational philosophy as applied to young adults, which emphasizes individualization, developmental needs, and best learning methodologies. We predominantly use carefully crafted collaborative seminars. Thereby Reliance College’s program will engender:
We will be and remain a wholly privately funded non-profit. Our Board of Trustees are carefully chosen for dedication to our mission and values. Our faculty is chosen not only for their expertise in knowledge but also and especially for their ability to teach and inspire our students. Hence, faculty compensation will be dependent on performance; no tenure.
In the greater Chicago area, a vibrant city filled with opportunity, culture, educational resources, and highly accomplished mentors who can guide students in a full range of possible careers and real-world research problems.
Chicago is centrally located and has great transportation. Of all the major U.S. cities, it has the lowest cost of living, measured by median house price, which is $100,000+ lower than Boston, New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc.
Online colleges are great for some things like learning technical information. And we will use technological tools where they work best to make learning, work and creation as productive as possible.
Many young people are searching for meaning and purpose in life; they desperately need to develop thinking skills and character. These are best discovered and communicated in person.
Real-time, in-person modeling and interaction with people who live and breathe the ideas and values of the college are absolutely essential to communicating them fully and to inspire the young to greatness.
How does a truly independent person act? What are they like in person? If you deeply respect the independent judgment of other individuals, how do you act, how do you speak to them?
What does a leader look like, as a real-life personality? What does it look like for a person to actually live a philosophy?
These things are best grasped when embodied, i.e., by experiencing real people living the ideas and values.
If the College’s aim is to prepare young people for the rest of their lives, to be leaders, they must experience models of the philosophy and values we are trying to communicate.
Moreover, humans are very social creatures. It’s hard to be independent, and helpful to experience a society in which your ideas, values, and virtues are validated. Knowing others who stand for independence, having their model in your mind, can strengthen your own resolve when you are alone and have to stand up for yourself. We want to give our students that experience.
The College will open to the first freshman class September of 2024. In the meantime, we are offering online seminars and The Great Connections summer program.
We want students who want to be challenged, who want to strengthen their ability to think for themselves. Who want to thereby increase their self-confidence.
We will begin recruiting tutors (our name for “professors”) soon. To keep up to date with our hiring, please sign up for our email list, which you may do in the footer section of our website. But we are eager to hear from you in the meantime: Please submit your application here.
Our curriculum prepares students to be self-reliant in a group-think world; to do that, they need to be strongly grounded in the best and most influential ideas of civilization. Our course of study will include:
Our faculty will be staffed with academically qualified individuals who are also dedicated to the values of the College and highly trained in the methods, pedagogy and values of the institution.
Reliance offers a reasonable tuition of $22,000 per year, with scholarships based on merit from our entirely private contributions.
The College does not operate any residences but will help you find something suitable; a private, full-security, full-service dorm is available in the Chicago Loop.
Reliance College will be funded through The Reason, Individualism, Freedom Institute (RIF Institute), which is an exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. This institute’s sole purpose is to ensure that the college stays true to its mission and values by directing its monies. Donations are tax deductible for income, gift, and estate tax purposes.
Every dollar counts. You can support us financially by going to “Contribute”.
You can also email us at hello@reliancecollege.org to connect with our advancement team and find out about becoming a Reliance College Founder.
Or you can send a check made payable to The RIF Institute, 9400 S. Damen Avenue, Chicago, IL 60643. Please indicate on the memo line that your donation is for the founding scholarship fund.
Tax Returns
Find our Form 990s attached for the past two years.
We’re grateful for gifts of any size.
We’re looking for high school and college students who want to be challenged, think for themselves, and direct their own lives.
Here are other ways you can help:
