How a Minneapolis college is eliminating barriers so underserved students can soar

With a mic in hand and her booming voice, Dougherty Family College (DFC) Dean, Dr. Buffy Smith rallied the crowd at the college’s annual block party May 7 on its Minneapolis campus, chanting, “Ain’t no party like a DFC party, oh yeah? Ain’t no party like a DFC party, oh yeah?”

Second-year student Sofia Prado joined the chant and the dance session that followed. “That’s what I love about DFC, it’s such a fun place to be. You can dance, and we’re also serious scholars.”

The DFC Block Party was a celebration of the end of the school year for students, faculty, staff, and a busload of high school students from Columbia Heights who got to check out the college firsthand while enjoying food, a DJ, games, and even a dunk tank where DFC students took turns taking shots at their teachers.

DFC opened in 2017 and is a 2-year college located within the University of St. Thomas’s downtown Minneapolis campus. DFC scholars, as they are called, graduate with a 2-year associate degree and a clear pathway to a 4-year bachelor’s degree.

“Cost is an area where DFC really shines,” said Erica Embury, associate director of admissions at Dougherty Family College. “The average student pays $2,000 to $3,000 per year, and that includes tuition, free textbooks, a free laptop, a metro transit pass, and 10 free meals a week.”

Cost was a big concern for Prado, who graduates from DFC this spring before finishing her 4-year degree at the University of St. Thomas.

“I come from a single-parent household and am paying for college,” Prado explained. “Without the financial support, I wouldn’t be able to study at all.” Prado is planning to get her doctorate in psychology and a minor in sustainability.

When she visited the DFC campus as a senior at White Bear Lake High School, Prado knew she was where she wanted to be. “Being a minority in a predominantly white high school, I just felt so at home here. You can always find a community here with staff and students.”

Mel Owens is a junior at St. Thomas and a graduate of DFC. She remembers being a high schooler at Hope Academy in Minneapolis.

“I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do,” Owens recalled. “I was struggling in high school, and then once I was done, I thought, now what?”

The financial, academic, and community supports at DFC helped motivate Owens, who is now studying biology on a path toward radiology. She credited DFC and, particularly, the cohorts and mentors at the school for keeping her on track.

DFC uses a cohort model where groups of approximately 25 students take all their classes together for their 2-year associate degree program. This structure is designed to foster a strong sense of community, peer support, and accountability. Each cohort is assigned a dedicated faculty or staff mentor who provides one-on-one advising, career guidance, and check-ins.

Owens met up with her mentor regularly and still talks to her today. “It’s nice to have someone trusted in the field of higher education, especially for someone like me, who has never had family in higher education before.”

If there’s one thing potential students take away from their DFC visit, staff and students hope it’s the fact that the college offers more than an education. Dean Smith emphasized the point when she addressed the group. “As a state, as a community, as a college, we had some challenging times. But, we’re still here, and we are stronger and better together because we are a community.”

As beats blasted from the DJ, Prado emphasized Dean Smith’s point with her favorite DFC memory.  “It was first semester midterms, and I was stressed and struggling,” Prado recalled. “But we finished our exams, and my friends and I went into the commons area and just started dancing.”

Prado added that the college experience is about academics, but it’s also about connection. “DFC is all about community, loving each other, and making the world better, little by little.”

DFC has room in its fall classes for interested graduating high school students still looking for the right fit. Learn more at: https://dfc.stthomas.edu/.