We did not set out to make another university. The country has plenty of those, and most of them — even the good ones — measure their seriousness in dollars. We wanted to know whether a university could be serious without being expensive, selective without being exclusive, and honest about its own incompleteness.
Neponset exists to make a serious liberal education available to anyone willing to do the work — without tuition, without selectivity, and without the pretense that a credential and an education are the same thing.
We are a nonprofit corporation organized under Massachusetts law, to be governed by an independent board. We do not yet hold the authority to grant degrees, and we say so on every page of this site.
Organized under M.G.L. c. 180 as a Massachusetts nonprofit corporation, seeking a fiscal sponsor. Bylaws, board minutes, and our 990 will be published once filed.
Scholars and practitioners who teach for a modest per-course stipend rather than a salary. No pay-to-play, and no tenure.
Planned: a small board of trustees with fiduciary oversight and conflict-of-interest disclosure. A whistleblower policy is in preparation.
Planned: academic policy set by the faculty, not by administration. Once formed, the senate will maintain the catalog, approve seminars, and review appointments.
Neponset is the answer we are testing to a question we kept hearing from working adults, returning students, and the kind of curious people who never stop reading: can a real education be available without becoming a financial event in someone's life?
We charge no tuition. Course registration fees average about $1,600 per learner per year, with need-based waivers. Our faculty teach for a modest per-course stipend, and we are looking for scholars and practitioners we would have wanted to study with ourselves. We are not yet accredited, and we say so on every page. The work, for now, is its own proof.
If that arrangement makes sense to you — if you would rather do the reading than collect a credential — we would like to hear from you.
If you are considering applying, would like to teach, or want to know more about how the institution is being built, the easiest way to reach us is by email.