Jonathan McMillan

Statement of Purpose

To take a piece from the quote by critically acclaimed author Madeline L’Engle “You have to
write the book that wants to be written…” I want to create a cost-effective and academically enriching
online university, primarily for low-income students. I attended Morrow High School, a title 1 institution,
which means there is a high percentage of children from low-income families that attend the school. I
saw the harsh realities of many of my fellow classmates not having the opportunity to attend college
because of financial or logistical hindrances. I want the online university to be a gateway to students
without the resources to be continuously mobile and physically present in the classroom, while still
receiving a high-quality college education. The University of Pennsylvania’s Masters in Higher Education
will give me the skill set necessary to better understand how the enterprise of higher education is
structured, governed, financed, and managed. The required courses for the program such as
Contemporary Issues in Higher Education and Faculty and Academic Governance will give me an
invaluable, well-rounded topic knowledge of the methods I should practice to properly facilitate my
online university.

While the administrative element of the university structure is important, the most valuable
component of any university is its teachers. I have extensive teaching experience both domestically and
internationally. I have previously been a teacher in Paris and Montpellier, France where I taught English
to speakers of other languages and worked with students to help them pass the baccalauréat, a French
exam required to pursue university studies. Many of the students were refugees, as Europe is currently
dealing with a refugee crisis. Similar to the economically challenged students in America, these students
did not have the same quality educational environment in their respective areas as other students in
France. I want my university to serve and benefit students all over the world and give everyone an equal
opportunity to escape from the vicious cycle of poverty. My online institution will be accompanied by an
already existing career development website I founded, which will ensure that students at the university
will have academic and real-world experiences.

I created my website, www.teenjobcity.com, at age 16 because I wanted a dedicated, reliable

platform where students can begin mapping out their careers as teenagers. During my sophomore year
in high school after I got my first job with Allstate Insurance, my fellow classmates would ask how I got
the job and what materials they needed to secure a position and begin to gain career experience at a
young age. This fostered my motivation to create the website. I also created a portal for my classmates
to download resume and cover letter templates, based on the resumes and curriculum vitae of our
teachers at our high school and professors at the nearby university. While over 30 of my fellow
classmates secured jobs or internships through the website, many others still did not have the
opportunity to utilize these acquired skills in the collegiate environment. Many of the students said
college was too expensive and the high level of competition for scholarships left them without any post-
secondary options, while others said that they did not have the resources or mobility to attend college.
My affordable online university will serve to bridge the gap between these discrepancies and provide
every student the opportunity to get a quality college education. The University of Pennsylvania will
provide the knowledge I need to properly administer and finance this revolutionary project.