The bombshell federal indictment of a well-known educator will delay the planned opening of a new experimental college he helped design for low-income, first-generation students. But it won鈥檛 stop it, the project鈥檚 new CEO said recently.

鈥淲e will be opening in fall 2022, for sure,鈥� said Chandell Stone.

In the meantime, she and others at Degrees of Freedom, as it鈥檚 called, are doing what they can to delicately sever ties to both the suspect in the criminal case and the non-profit he created.

The 鈥渟ocial venture incubator鈥� Democracy Builders last year announced it was buying the southern Vermont campus of Marlboro College to create a two-year, hybrid high school and early college program. Organizers last month told supporters that the program would welcome its first students this September.

On April 27, everything changed: The U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office for the Southern District of New York announced that the non-profit鈥檚 founder, Seth Andrew, with wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements to a financial institution. If convicted, he faces up to 70 years in prison.

A founder of the well-known Democracy Prep charter school network and a one-time to Pres. Obama, Andrew, 42, allegedly stole $218,005 from a network account in 2019 in order to secure a lower interest rate on a mortgage for a nearly $2.4 million Manhattan apartment, prosecutors said. He was expected to plead not guilty and declined to comment for this article.

After news of Andrews鈥� indictment spread, Democracy Builders held an emergency meeting to remove him as board chair.

Last week, Stone said efforts to separate the new college from the alleged crime are going even further: When Degrees of Freedom incorporates this month, it will have no formal association with Andrew. She and members of the Democracy Builders board 鈥渁re working amicably towards separating the entities, as to allow for formal incorporation without Seth Andrew.鈥�

The first problem: Degrees of Freedom doesn鈥檛 actually own the Marlboro campus 鈥� Democracy Builders does. That has complicated the college鈥檚 efforts to open as planned, Stone said.

鈥淲e鈥檇 love to be in Marlboro, but the reality is this just happened last week 鈥� and we were in the middle of telling kids, 鈥楥ome to campus.鈥� And I just didn鈥檛 feel comfortable with all of the dust-up.鈥�

The developments mean it鈥檒l be at least another year until more than just a handful of students can take part in what many observers see as a promising experiment.

When he announced the new college in 2020, Andrew told that the venture represented 鈥渁 new model for higher education that doesn鈥檛 exist for most kids.鈥�

To that end, Democracy Builders spent $1.7 million to buy the 500-acre campus of Marlboro, a small liberal arts college that, like many of its kind, faced declining enrollment. In 2019, it merged with Boston鈥檚 Emerson College, sending students and faculty packing.

Degrees of Freedom last fall ran what it called a successful small pilot of its model with 20 students.It plans to offer a low-residency hybrid program that would require students to be on campus for just two weeks per trimester, or six weeks per year. For the rest of the academic year, they鈥檇 be expected to study online, with apprenticeships tied to their majors.

The program鈥檚 website actually lays out two separate programs: a three-trimester 鈥�,鈥� for high schoolers, summer included, priced at $9,000, that provides SAT and ACT prep, college application support, and an option for international travel, among other offerings. It鈥檚 open to high school seniors with 2.5 GPAs, as well as GED holders who aren鈥檛 enrolled in college.

For $18,000, high school graduates and GED holders can enroll in a two-year 鈥溾�� designed to help them 鈥済ain entrance to competitive colleges.鈥�

Stone said the program will also allow alumni to find full-time employment in their area of concentration or access to tech-focused boot camps that many low-income students don鈥檛 typically attend.

鈥淲hat we want to do is figure out: How do we get low-income students, first-generation college students, to gain access to well-paid careers, and do so with zero dollars in student debt?鈥� she said. Because Degrees of Freedom is 鈥渞everse-engineering the program from the Pell Grant,鈥� basing its costs on the federal grant鈥檚 maximum allowance to students, she said, low-income students should expect to graduate debt-free.

Kevin Carey, who directs the Education Policy program at , the left-leaning Washington, D.C., think tank, said that鈥檚 a laudable 鈥� and unusual 鈥� goal for a tech-focused college.

鈥淵ou only do this if you begin from the point of view of, 鈥楬ow do I build a college that鈥檚 good at serving low income students?鈥� No one does that. Everyone鈥檚 approach to technology is, 鈥楬ow do I make money?鈥欌��

Richard Saudek, a Montpelier, Vt., attorney who chairs Marlboro鈥檚 board of trustees, said the board chose Degrees of Freedom because 鈥渢he people involved were quite experienced starting up schools that served underserved populations.鈥�

Marlboro officials, he said, 鈥渇elt that their plans seemed to make sense 鈥� and that it would be a good thing to do, basically, to have them purchase the campus at a low price. And we had a lot of hopes.鈥�

Saudek said the sale of the campus won鈥檛 be affected by Andrew鈥檚 legal troubles. The transaction had no 鈥渃lawback鈥� or reversal provisions. 鈥淭hey had it to do what they could with it,鈥� he said.

Nevertheless, he admitted that trustees 鈥渁re watching this situation unfold and were alarmed when they learned about the indictment.鈥�

New America鈥檚 Carey had a similar response when he read the news: 鈥淧art of my reaction to the whole thing, beyond 鈥榃hat the hell?鈥� was 鈥楾oo bad. This is just going to kill this thing.鈥欌��

He recalled hearing Andrew鈥檚 pitch as the program was taking shape: Rather than forcing students to borrow $20,000 to attend 鈥渟ome shady for-profit college鈥� or take on even more debt to attend a four-year college without graduating, Carey said, he was intrigued by the notion of using hybrid learning to bring costs down so low that a student could cover them entirely with a Pell Grant.

鈥淎t its most basic level, that’s a good idea,鈥� Carey said.

At the moment, the effort is relying largely on funding from the Silicon Valley investor , as well as a group of wealthy donors, to help keep it afloat. In an April 8 email to supporters prior to his indictment, Andrew urged them to 鈥淗elp us identify funders for our work.鈥� The plea linked to a direct donation site for the college. Andrew noted, 鈥淥ur entire cost for tuition-room-and-board costs less than a Pell grant. However, we need philanthropy until we break-even at ~500 students, which we hope to achieve in 2022.鈥�

Stone said recent developments have affected fund-raising, and that a few donors have backed out. 鈥淲e are now working to recover grants for which Seth was the lead point of contact,鈥� she said.

It鈥檚 significant that the idea for Degrees of Freedom emerged from the world of K-12 charter schools, Carey said. Unlike most new online universities, which are typically for-profit, charter schools have historically offered educators ways to create mission-driven, non-profit schools that help low-income students.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no comparable mechanism in higher education for that,鈥� he said.

The irony is that Stone and others now find themselves working to both listen to the needs of these students and separate themselves from Andrew, whose work has long been synonymous with the very charter schools that serve them.

鈥淢y goal is to stay laser-focused on 鈥楬ow do we continue to uplift their voices?鈥欌�� she said. 鈥溾�楬ow do we make sure that their voices don’t get drowned out by a personal matter that doesn’t really have anything to do with them, and with this project?鈥欌��