The Memoria College master’s program offers a broad yet meaningful encounter with the Great Books. Students engage in thoughtful discussion of the classic works of the great thinkers and writers of the Western tradition by studying the fundamental texts of philosophy, literature, theology, psychology, history, economics, and science.

Memoria College exalts Socratic Wisdom—the humble recognition that we all have much more to learn. As such, Memoria College was founded to be a flexible and convenient opportunity to access the Great Books, offering a classical education to any adult who did not formally receive one or who wishes to broaden their education. Courses are intended for teachers, homeschooling parents, and all who wish to immerse themselves in the Great Books and the best that has been thought and said.

Memoria College exists to provide students a broad and meaningful encounter with the Great Books and Culture of Western civilization.

We aim to establish Memoria College as a place where the next generation of classical educators and lovers of the liberal arts can be initiated online into the Great Conversation through a better understanding of the Great Books of Western Civilization.  

The Memoria College community is comprised of highly esteemed faculty and deeply engaged students. While many of our students are homeschooling parents and teachers and administrators in classical schools, we welcome students from diverse backgrounds and circumstances. Our community is gracious and wise, and our acclaimed faculty routinely comments favorably on the high caliber of Memoria College students. While seminar courses may be larger, core courses are limited in size to encourage discussion and collegiality.

Memoria College Institutional Outcomes identify the skills, knowledge, and abilities that our students grow in during their entire educational experience. 

In all programs, students will: 

  • Read carefully from a wide selection of the core, whole texts of the Western intellectual tradition with a sensitivity to form, audience, and original context.  
  • Think critically about essential ideas and questions in the liberal arts, particularly in the Western intellectual tradition, demonstrating the ability to articulate an appreciation for the Good, the True, and the Beautiful in a way that draws on the past for the present.   
  • Discuss meaningfully the fundamental questions of human existence.  
  • Communicate effectively with clarity, logic, and academic rigor in written and oral form in a variety of settings, using proper evidence and citation for their field.  

Memoria College’s history goes back before it’s founding to the seminal work of Mortimer Adler and Robert Hutchins at the University of Chicago and the Encyclopedia Britannica.  These authors drew upon the whole sweep of Western classics to develop the Great Books of the Western World series that was published by the Encyclopedia Britannica in 1952 and again in 1990.  They further developed a course of adult study in ten fifteen-week programs called the Great Ideas Program.

Founded in 2020, Memoria College has based it’s core curriculum on this Great Ideas program to make the study of these Great Books along with expert faculty possible.  We are not, however, slavishly attached to the exact letter of this program and have, through a process of continual refinement, modified and supplemented the curriculum of Adler and Hutchins to fill some gaps and extend the canon into the twentieth century.

Core courses are available to enrolled master’s students and offer three credit hours. Courses meet via Microsoft Teams for two hours once per week for 16 weeks and require participation in live class discussions, as well as a weekly contribution to the online class forum. These courses are based on the Great Ideas Program developed by Mortimer Adler.

Seminar courses are available to enrolled master’s students for one credit hour and to the public for auditing. Courses meet for two hours once per week for five weeks via Microsoft Teams and require participation in class discussions as well as a weekly contribution to the online class forum. Students who are auditing the course may attend the live session and have access to the forums, but they are not required to contribute. These courses supplement the core courses by focusing on a single work, author, or narrow theme.

Core courses and seminars examine the fundamental texts of the Western tradition as well as more modern classics. Students will study great thinkers and writers such as Homer, Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Shakespeare, Kant, Melville, Tolstoy, Tolkien, Dickens, Austen, and Lewis.

The workload for both core courses and seminars consists of (1) reading in primary source material, (2) live discussion in class, (3) weekly writing in a group discussion forum, aiming at about 1,000 words per week, either in a single short essay or across multiple responses or posts.

Most classes meet on weeknight evenings (and periodically on Saturday mornings/afternoons) to accommodate the schedules of busy parents and working adults. All courses meet via Microsoft Teams and recordings are available to registered students.

Memoria College courses are intended to be as accessible and affordable as possible. As such, courses are $250 per credit hour. Core courses are $750. Seminar courses are $250 for credit or $100 to audit.

You must complete your bachelor’s degree in order to be eligible for the master’s program at Memoria College. Students without a bachelor’s degree are welcome to audit seminar courses.

1. Fill out the application. Includes a personal essay, a transcript from your undergraduate university, and a $50.00 application fee.

2. Interview with the Memoria College administration.

3. Receive admissions letter (via email).

4. Submit admissions deposit.

5. Enroll in courses.

As educators, the very best thing you can do is continue to educate yourselves! The educational landscape of the last seventy-five years suggests that many who now champion classical education for their students could benefit from revisiting or acquainting themselves with the greatest works of the Western tradition. Developing knowledge and wisdom individually contributes to the wealth of knowledge and wisdom in your classrooms and school. As Robert Hutchins said of the Great Books Program, “Liberal education…prepares us to be free men….to be free you have to be educated for freedom. This means you have to think; for the free man thinks for himself. …You have to have this education if you are going to be happy; for happiness consists in making the most of yourself.”

Memoria College is licensed by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (13 KAR 1:020). The license is conditioned upon obtaining accreditation with an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Memoria College is not a “Title IV” school, does not accept any State or Federal funds, grants or loans, and is not accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

It is unlikely. There is no universal system for transferring credit between graduate schools. Institutions rarely accept transfer credit unless they have a closely matching course and determine that the material was covered in a similar way. Based on the unique nature of our program, only a few graduate programs are likely to have similar courses.

Memoria College does not guarantee the transfer of course credits or degrees to other institutions or organizations.

No. The master’s program is designed to provide a broad liberal education through interaction with the great texts. It is not a master’s in teaching degree which is typically focused on the process of teaching with a student teaching component.

In some states these courses will satisfy the requirements for continuing education.

A student is considered an inactive student if they have not enrolled in a class for two consecutive semesters. An inactive student will be notified by the College of the change in their status. The student will also be asked whether they intent to continue in the program. If a student has not enrolled in a class for four consecutive semesters, they will be unenrolled from the program. As a former student, they must apply for reinstatement to the program to continue progress toward the degree.

Memoria College prioritizes and expects regular student attendance and participation in all courses. Participation in live discussions is generally necessary to receive course credit. Students may not merely watch Course Recordings to receive credit for attending a course.

Permission is needed from the instructor if a student is unable to attend. Students with excused absences will be expected to watch the class they missed online and to do whatever else their professor deems necessary in order to make up the absence.  Students must complete Forums regardless of whether they are able to attend class synchronously.

For Core Courses, students receive two excused absences, though communication with the instructor and making up work is still expected.

For Seminar Courses, students enrolled for credit receive one excused absence, though communication with the instructor and making up work is still expected. Auditors may watch courses online asynchronously.