Our why actually started with a lot of whys: Why is college so expensive? Why do fewer than 40% of Americans finish their bachelor’s degree? How can the rest of us find a pathway to fulfilling, high-paying careers? Who decided credit hours were a better measure of learning than demonstrating you know how to do something?

We weren’t satisfied with the answers we found in the higher education world, so we set out to build a better path to a college degree. One for parents and professionals. For people who are the first in their family to go to college—but don’t want to be the last. A path for college skeptics, because we get it! We’re skeptical, too! But the data speaks for itself: Workers with more education generally earn more, and they may also benefit from greater economic stability throughout their careers. And children of college graduates are 2–3 times more likely to earn a degree than their peers whose parents did not earn a degree.

We do what we do for our students. They are talented, smart, skillful, funny, heartfelt, and grounded. Our students are fully committed to their own whys. So we are, too.