Neumont eyes slice of R.I. market

Edward H. Levine has been CEO and president of South Jordan, Utah-based Neumont University LLC since 2007.
Levine, who splits his time between Utah and Rhode Island, is trying to rally support to establish a Neumont campus in Providence. The school hopes to have 80 students at its New England campus by October 2013. It will offer a bachelor’s degree in computer science at first, and possibly add more later.
Despite opposition from some in the local education community, nine prominent technology and government leaders – including R.I. Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Keith W. Stokes and the founder of EpiVax Inc., Dr. Anne S. De Groot – have written letters supporting Neumont’s bid.

PBN: How many teachers will there be locally and what is the average salary for a Neumont teacher?
LEVINE: We consider [salary] to be a competitive advantage and that’s proprietary information. Think of it this way – our teachers are current from-the-industry, computer-science specialists and great teachers, so they’re very well-compensated.

PBN: How does the market between Providence and Utah differ?
LEVINE: The markets in Providence and Utah are substantially the same but differentiated by population density and geography. … Our recruiting market [in New England] would be a lot [denser] and therefore our campus would be bigger.

PBN: Looking at the map, you could go to any other New England state with fewer tax and regulatory burdens than Rhode Island.
LEVINE: Rhode Island’s tax situation is not a competitive advantage for Rhode Island, particularly for entrepreneurs. … Rhode Island’s just our current first choice.
PBN: What’s your second choice?
LEVINE: Massachusetts.

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PBN: Have you been surprised by the opposition some of the local education leaders have shown?
LEVINE: No. I anticipated opposition. No one, no matter how healthy their business is – and the other educators in Rhode Island are healthy businesses – seeks additional competition. They view us as competition.

PBN: How can someone earn a bachelor’s degree in 2.5 years? Is it no vacation, working all day – five days a week?
LEVINE: Yes, you’ve got it. They start in October and they go to school for four quarters a year and they’re there from 9 to 5 every day. There are colleges in Rhode Island that don’t hold classes on Friday – we hold class five days a week. It’s intense and rigorous. [Neumont students have approximately 10 weeks of vacation per year.]

PBN: One of the requirements Neumont has is that all students are required to purchase a $2,000 laptop – that’ s a really expensive laptop.
LEVINE: That laptop can handle the intense processing power that they need, and they need a laptop that can be bounced around in a backpack for more than 2.5 years. It’s fast, rugged and big. We’ve experimented with less-expensive equipment. If a student’s laptop goes down mid-quarter, that’s really bad for that student.

PBN: You want to have 523 students by 2016 in Providence. Neumont has graduated 465 students in nine years. Are you overreaching with resources, money, etc.?
LEVINE: I certainly hope not. There are no guarantees in any innovative venture. [As for the financing,] we are privately financed and like every well-managed university we generate a surplus and that surplus is specifically used for growth and this is a growth project.

PBN: Would you have any programs in place to keep students in Rhode Island?
LEVINE: This is one of the reasons I think Rhode Island should be rolling out the welcome mat for Neumont University. Approximately 20 percent of our enrolled students come from Utah but 40 percent of our graduates stay in Utah so we are a net contributor to the Utah tech community, and we anticipate being a net contributor in a very substantial way to the Rhode Island community too.

PBN: For the Providence campus, what would be the minimum requirements to teach?
LEVINE: Bachelor’s degree in-field, years of professional experience, and a distinctive expertise or advanced degrees. •

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