New College of Florida and Joe Ricketts: What to know about their new partnership

As New College of Florida announced a new online liberal arts degree program Thursday afternoon, the college included a special guest at the press conference — Joe Ricketts.

Ricketts, the billionaire former founder of TD Ameritrade, founder of Ricketts Great Books College and owner of the Chicago Cubs Major League Baseball team, told the audience at College Hall that he had been trying relentlessly for years to get connected to universities across the country.

He reached out to Christopher Rufo, who connected him to New College President Richard Corcoran in March.

Now, several months later, New College launched a degree program in partnership with Ricketts' largely unknown Ricketts Great Books College in hopes of expanding classical liberal arts education to students regardless of physical location.

Here's what to know about Joe Ricketts.

Who is Joe Ricketts?

John Joseph Ricketts, 82, was born and raised in Nebraska. The Ricketts family patriarch has a net worth of almost $3 billion, according to Forbes, built largely from his founding of the firm that would ultimately become TD Ameritrade in 1975.

He has four children: U.S. Senator and former Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts, Chicago Cubs Chairman Thomas Ricketts, Chicago Cubs Co-owner Laura Ricketts, and former Republican National Committee Finance Chairman Todd Ricketts.

Joe Ricketts has been active in Republican politics, having donated millions to the party's candidates. In February, Ricketts donated $1 million to Gov. Ron DeSantis. In 2012, Ricketts spent $12 million in ads for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

In 2019, emails from Ricketts containing racist and Islamophobic sentiments leaked, which drew criticism and backlash.

“Christians and Jews can have a mutual respect for each other to create a civil society. As you know, Islam cannot do that,” Ricketts said in one of the emails. “Therefore we cannot ever let Islam become a large part of our society. Muslims are naturally my (our) enemy due to their deep antagonism and bias against non-Muslims.”

Other emails that Ricketts forwarded debunked “birther” theories that former president Barack Obama was not born in the United States and jokes that used racial epithets for African Americans and people from the Middle East.

Ricketts at New College

On Thursday, New College announced a partnership with Ricketts and his Ricketts Great Books College to provide an online liberal arts degree program using courses built within Rickett's program.

The courses, available worldwide, launch at the beginning of the 2024 spring semester with New College's classes starting on the same day, Jan. 29, according to a press release from the college.

The program will initially have three courses: Euclid’s Elements, Plato, and History of Ideas Part 1. The History of Ideas course will have eight parts. The courses also include live video seminars and discussion groups for the content spanning from ancient Greece to the modern day.

The program offers students the opportunity to earn a bachelor's degree, an associate's degree or a one-year certificate from New College. After earning an associate's degree, students have the option to finish their more advanced degrees at New College's campus or finish online, according to the release. It wasn't immediately clear how many students would be in the program, but applicants must still be accepted through New College's admissions process, according to the program's website.

Ricketts pledged scholarship funding to the program through the New College Foundation, according to the release. With the scholarship, eligible students would pay $12,000 for a four-year degree from New College.

"So you can come from a poor country, and have as good of an education as somebody that comes from a very rich, first-tier school," Rickett said. "It's gonna change the world."

Follow Herald-Tribune Education Reporter Steven Walker on Twitter at @swalker_7. He can be reached at sbwalker@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: New College of Florida and Joe Ricketts: What to know