Liberal arts college planned for San Elijo Hills-NC Times

Founder is a philosophy professor who says the campus will fill a void in San Diego County

By ANDREA MOSS – NC TIMES

photo Philosophy professor Tim Mosteller talks about the community benefits of a new liberal arts university called San Elijo College, which he and several supporters hope to open in San Elijo Hills in fall 2010. (Photo by John Koster – For the North County Times)

A San Marcos philosophy professor and several supporters are hoping to open a nondenominational liberal arts college in the upscale San Elijo Hills community in fall 2010.

If San Elijo College succeeds, it will join a growing list of facilities that have helped turn San Marcos into a major education center. San Elijo College founder Tim Mosteller said last week that the campus will be a classical liberal arts institution modeled after so-called “great books” schools in other parts of the country.

Examples include Gutenberg College in Eugene, Ore.; St. John's College in Indianapolis, Ind., and Santa Fe, N.M.; and New St. Andrews College in Moscow, Idaho.

The new school will fill a void in the county, he said.”In North County, especially, there aren't any really traditional sort of liberal arts colleges,” Mosteller said. The school cannot start the multiyear process of seeking accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges until after it has opened.

However, the college has registered with the state as a nonprofit corporation and recently received its nonprofit status from the Internal Revenue Service. Mosteller and the board are now recruiting students, as well. “We need at least 12 students, with a maximum of 35,” he said, referring to the fall 2010 session. “We hope to end up with about 150 total (in five or six years).” City officials declined to comment on the new college. READ MORE VIA NC TIMES SAN MARCOS: Liberal arts college planned for San Marcos.