The New Economy Accelerated Program

On Campus | April – October 2023

This program is an accelerated application of the New Economy Ideal discussed on this website and explained in detail here – The New Economy Lecture.

The students who are attracted to this on campus program want to homestead and are highly motivated. They crave liberty and being their own man or woman. They yearn to create wealth on the land, to be economically independent, and to live the New Economy. At the completion of this program, the student is Income Ready.

13 Books, 6 Projects

Cost: $7,500

(covers meals, housing, and instruction)

Study/Work Hours per Week:
10 liberal arts hours (2 hours a day)
40 manual arts hours

Books

April

  • DeMille: Thomas Jefferson Education
  • Washington: Up from Slavery
  • Ebenstein: Great Political Thinkers (5th Ed.) – Chapters 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 13
  • Lecture – Flight From the City

May

  • Lowenfels: Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardner’s Guide to the Soil
  • Food Web
  • Brown: Dirt to Soil
  • Lecture – American

June

  • Berry: The Unsettling of America
  • Forstchen: One Second After

July

  • Skousen: The 5,000 Year Leap
  • Buck: The Good Earth

August

  • Wiker: 10 Books Every Conservative Must Read, plus 4 not to Miss and 1 Imposter

September

  • Lewis: The Weight of Glory
  • Lecture – Lights Out

October

  • Bastiat: The Law
  • Jung Chang: Wild Swans
  • Lecture – Democracy in America
  • Income Project Presentation

Projects are Based on Needs of the Campus, Many Overlap

  • Rotational Grazing Paddock System
  • Campus Water System
  • Chicken Coop with Brooding Chamber
  • Plant 1,000 Trees
  • Build Tool/Storage Sheds
  • Build Honey Bee Hives/Swarm Traps/Hive Frames
  • Soil Regeneration and Composting
  • Animal Husbandry
  • Food Preservation
  • Biochar Production
  • Manage Apiary (Beekeeping)/Create Bee Habitat/Conduct Wild Bee Study
  • Build and Populate Rabbit Hutch System
  • Build Milking and Milk Storage Station/
    Create Milk Products
  • Create Farmers Market
  • Plant Food Production (Horticulture)
  • Market Gardening
  • Construction
  • Create Operational Bakery

What MC Expects of NEAP Students

  • Be up and prepared for the day before dawn without being told
  • Dedicated to academic studies and manual arts work
  • Willingness to learn and engage 100%
  • Willingness to do whatever needs to be done, when it needs to be done
  • Eagerness to work hard 40 hours per week (likely more depending on the need)
  • Intent to complete the Program without interruption (save emergencies)
  • Students are expected to cultivate an “ownership” mentality regarding the projects in which they are engaged
  • Students to treat this program as an internship or prolonged job interview – how well they do determines if they get the job (are ready to begin their solo journey)

There are two questions you are likely asking yourself right now.

How can I build a business without a degree and what is income ready?

1. How can I build a business without a degree?

We have all been told that to start a business requires a business degree, a business plan, and skills to handle the finances, taxes, government regulations etc. While these skills are important in a business, hundreds of millions of Americans have built millions of businesses over the past 250 years without business degrees or professional training. It’s not rocket science and if you have a good idea, tenacity, and a strong work ethic, you can be successful—meaning you can create economic independence in less than 7 years if you follow the principles of the New Economy.

Allow me to offer some examples of successful businesses without anyone earning business degrees or even taking classes in business (I’m not naming them for privacy reasons).

#1 – I have very close friends who started a bakery without any experience other than knowing how to bake bread and they are now grossing at least $100,000 per month. Eight years ago they started with a home oven and by year 3 they were in a full size bakery and have been producing 20,000 loaves per month for at least 2 years.

#2 – Another family runs a successful construction company, again without the benefit of a college degree in construction or professional education.

#3 – I know a small group of men who started and operated a college from the ground up and within 14 years were grossing $2,000,000 annually.

#4 – I have a good friend who without any professional background, invested in commercial real estate, made some money and reinvested the profits into a nature glamping facility and is grossing $275,000 annually.

#5 – 18 years ago, a ten year old girl I know decided she wanted to be a farmer. Against the better judgement of her parents, she convinced a relative to help her purchase land and she began growing food. The young lady has received many awards for her entrepreneurship and has provided her own living income from farming for nearly two decades, all without a business degree or an array of business classes. To top it all off, she has always (to this day) seriously struggled with reading, but clearly she has overcome that obstacle.

#6 – My wife Julia has handled the college finances (including filing quarterly taxes, preparing 1098T’s, 1099’s, and all contributions as well as all day-to-day activities) for 12 years and has prepared for 7 audits, all successful without any professional training.

Is it important to have skills in bookkeeping and marketing/packaging and all of the other things that come with running a business? Yes, vital in fact. But they are not vital to starting a business and as you need them, you get them—as I and all of my friends have done.

It is very similar to getting married and raising a family. Sure one can get a degree in marriage and raising children, but do you know great families where the parents did not get degrees in this field? Most great families did not start with this kind of education, so how are they successful? They learned as they grew.

It is common for us to be skeptical and concerned for our friends and loved ones when it comes to income and security. But the last three years have taught us over and over again that there is no security in the mainstream educational and economic systems. Your only true security is yourself and your family. We are providing a method for you to develop true security.

2. What is "Income Ready"?

Income ready is the reality that a student is ready to apply in the real world what they have learned on campus and make money doing it.

Allow me to illustrate one idea of how a student could create an income after the seven months of the New Economy Accelerated Program:

In 28 weeks of 40 hours per week of hard work (7 months) and seriously dedicated participants, a student could be an intermediate beekeeper, decent baker, have basic experience in year-round food production, be an experienced fence builder, comfortable goat milker, capable wood splitter, knowledgable chicken and rabbit grower, competent composter, adequate cheese maker, qualified tree planter, and happy canner. There would be plenty of room for growth, but dedicated students will have enough skill from working and learning on campus for seven months to produce good quality products that people will purchase.

This conservative example is how a student could start building a business and homestead. This is one of many options. What you are about to read is based on real experience on the Monticello College campus or affiliated businesses:

  • Year One
    • 10 Honey Bee Hives – no return in year one
    • Bakery (100 loaves per week) profit margin $4 per loaf = $400 per week – $15,600 annually
    • Food Production (easy to grow twice what the family needs) sell surplus – $1,000 annually
    • Compost Production – $2,000 annually
    • Occasional short term odd jobs – $3,000 annually

    Annual Gross Income – $21,600
    Would have to survive on a family budget under $1800 per month

  • Year Two
    • 10 Honey Bee Hives – Honey sales – $2,000
    • Bakery (150 loaves per week) profit margin $4 per loaf = $600 per week – $20,400 annually
    • Food Production (easy to grow twice what the family needs) sell surplus – $2,000 annually
    • Compost Production – $4,000 annually

    Annual Gross Income – $28,400
    Would have to survive on a family budget under $2366 per month

  • Year Three
    • 20 Honey Bee Hives – Honey sales – $5,000/Seminar fees – $3,000/Hives, Traps, Frames – $2,000 = $9,000
    • Bakery (200 loaves per week) profit margin $4 per loaf = $600 per week – $31,200 annually
    • Food Production (easy to grow twice what the family needs) sell surplus – $2,000 annually
    • Compost Production – $5,000 annually

    Annual Gross Income – $47,200
    Would have to survive on a family budget under $3933 per month

Rationale

  1. On campus, one student bakes 20 loaves in a few hours in our residential kitchen ovens (2). One person can easily scale this to produce 100 loaves per week without any major outlay.
  2. Natural beekeeping is worlds different than modern industrial methods beekeeping and 20 hives requires no more than 200 man hours annually. ($45 per hour)
  3. We know that anyone with a tiny bit of determination and the ability to follow a planting/harvesting schedule can grow at least 50% of their own family food needs and easily have a surplus. My own under 12 year old children always sold all our surplus eggs and vegetables.
  4. The students who are attracted to this program, want to homestead and are highly motivated. They want liberty and to be their own man or woman. They want to create wealth on the land, to be economically independent, and to live the New Economy. Not only that, many people are doing very similar things who own no land, they are renting vacant lots or trading for the use of someone else’s land. Everything listed in the 3 year example above is being done just as it is laid out without owning any land.
  5. Remember that a New Economy family is spending 75% less on monthly expenses than the average American family, so instead of spending the national average of $5,000 per month, the New Economy family spends around $1,200 per month.
  6. We can guarantee nothing, but people with determination and some experience can do wonders. Organic home grown/made vegetables, bread, and honey are all staple foods for most American families and are easy to sell.
  7. Monticello College will continue to be a resource for those who complete the program and are working to build their own businesses and homesteads by offering advice, solution contacts, providing an ongoing reading list, and conducting quarterly virtual colloquia at no cost. We are dedicated to your success.

Day-to-Day Schedule

Monday – Friday
(10 hours – liberal arts/40 hours – manual arts – sometimes there will be work after dinner)
6:00am or earlier – Rise
6:30am – start day/Sunrise Solitude
7:00am – Chores
8:00am – Breakfast
9:00am – Study (2 hours)
11:00am – Start work (2 hours)
1:00pm – Lunch
2:00pm – Work (4 hours)
6:00pm – Dinner

Saturday
(6 hours)
6:00am – Rise
6:30am – Breakfast
7:00am – Work (6 hours)
1:00pm – Lunch and Chores

Application Process:

  • Submit application
  • Zoom interview
  • Three letters of recommendation
  • Pay Application fee

Application deadline for this program is March 1, 2023

CLICK HERE TO APPLY