Digital Ready and Outlier.org partner to offer early college courses in mathematics to increase access to jobs in Boston's growing innovation economy

BOSTON, May 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Ready and Outlier.org have today announced a partnership offering three for-credit college mathematics courses available for free to high school students in Boston Public Schools beginning in the fall of 2022.

Through this partnership, Boston high school students can take Outlier.org's College Algebra, Precalculus, and Calculus I courses at no cost to them, and earn up to 9 college credits from the University of Pittsburgh, helping to make college more accessible and affordable. Too often calculus serves as a roadblock that prevents students from pursuing a STEM career. This partnership will ensure that Boston students have a strong foundation in mathematics to ensure they are prepared for the rigor and demands of STEM careers connected to computer science, engineering, architecture, biotechnology, data science, and more.  

In year 1, the partnership will prioritize students that are vastly underrepresented in Boston's innovation economy, including women, Black, and Latino students, as well as students that attend a Boston high school that ranks in the lowest 10% of schools in the state. Registration for fall semester classes will open today. Classes will begin online in September with in-person support available throughout the semester. Interested students can register for the class on Digital Ready's website. Boston students who will be entering grades 10, 11, and 12 this fall are eligible to apply.

This collaborative partnership will amplify opportunities for Boston's high school students, providing them with the access, resources, and support needed to enter Boston's burgeoning technology economy. "Increasing access to rigorous math classes during high school has to be our focus in Boston or we risk isolating our students from the economic and civic fabric of their home community. We have a city that is rich with resources and job opportunities, but inequitable in distribution. This partnership is just one example of how we can partner together to remove barriers for our Black and Latino students and ensure they have access to high-wage jobs in Boston that put them and their families on a path to economic mobility," says Dr. Sarah Cherry Rice, the Executive Director of Digital Ready.

Created with a mission to expand access to high-quality education and reduce student debt, Outlier.org is building on-ramps to higher education one thoughtfully designed course at a time. Founded by Aaron Rasmussen (co-founder of MasterClass), Outlier.org was named one of TIME Magazine's Best Inventions of 2020. By combining cinematic video, thoughtful pedagogy, student support, and technology, Outlier.org builds the best online versions of general education college courses.

"We've designed Outlier.org to be both engaging and instructionally thorough," said Aaron Rasmussen, CEO & founder of Outlier.org. "Outlier.org math courses can help chart a path for underrepresented minority and low-income students into STEM fields. We're thrilled to continue building on that programming as we partner with Digital Ready to further expand STEM education access."

Digital Ready is a Boston-based organization with a mission to activate the creative potential of high school students, especially underrepresented young people—students from low-income backgrounds and students of color—with the agency, social capital, and skills to build their own pathways to economic mobility and success in Boston's innovation economy. For more information, visit www.digitalready.org or follow @digitalreadyboston on Instagram.

Created by the Co-Founder of MasterClass, Outlier.org offers beautiful, effective online courses that earn students transferable college credit for a fraction of the cost. In addition to featuring cinema-quality lectures, Outlier.org courses are taught by some of the most charismatic figures in academia, including instructors from Yale, MIT, and Columbia, and are transcripted by the University of Pittsburgh, a top 60 school. Students enjoy a top-quality learning experience that includes access to 1-on-1 tutoring for math courses, AI-proctored assessments, dynamically-generated problem sets, and cutting-edge, active learning materials. In keeping with the company's mission to increase access to top-quality higher education and reduce student debt, each course is priced at just $400. For more information about Outlier.org, follow them on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

SOURCE Outlier.org