OUR FOUNDER

Joe Ricketts’ Story

Ricketts Great Books College® is the idea and development of J. Joe Ricketts.

Mr. Ricketts is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who is interested in education.

He started his entrepreneurial career helping establish the company that became Ameritrade, spending 35 years building it and then retiring from the board in 2011.

Other entrepreneurial endeavors include businesses in the news and hospitality industries. His philanthropic efforts include The Opportunity Education Foundation, The Cloisters on the Platte Foundation, The Ricketts Conservation Foundation, The Ricketts Art Foundation and Citizens For Free Enterprise.

A native of Nebraska and now a citizen of Wyoming, Mr. Ricketts enjoys spending time in both locations. He and his wife of more than sixty years have four children and fourteen grandchildren.

For more information you can visit his website at https://joericketts.com/.

OUR MISSION

“Ricketts Great Books College is dedicated to providing a rigorous Great Books education through a distance-learning format. Our mission is to foster independent thinking, critical analysis, and articulate communication by engaging students with the foundational works of Western civilization. We envision a vibrant intellectual community, accessible globally via real-time video seminars, where students learn how to think, not just what to think. By studying timeless ideas and texts, Ricketts Great Books College prepares students to become thoughtful leaders, creative problem-solvers, and engaged citizens in an ever-changing world.”

OUR FACULTY

Inspiring teachers changing lives 

Ricketts Great Books College® professors are selected for their intellectual vitality, curiosity, and skills as leaders. Their mission is to ensure that you fully engage with the books & the thinkers, explore their ideas, and develop your own mental faculties of reason and critical analysis.
PROVOST

Ray Ravaglia

Ray Ravaglia is the Provost of Ricketts Great Books College®. A former Stanford University dean, Ray has worked in education innovation since 1987, developing the first online AP course, founding the two leading online high schools (Stanford Online High School and Dwight Global Online School)—building both on the model of live, synchronous instruction in which students and faculty engage in real-time seminars just as they would in physical space—with a goal of using 21st century technology to enable a 12th century education.  Ray routinely speaks at conferences, sharing heterodox views on the benefits and challenges of non-traditional education.  He has produced over 100 computer-assisted courses and has written countless articles in academic journals and the popular press. He has degrees in philosophy and mathematics from Stanford University.
DEAN OF FACULTY

Jeff Scarborough

Dr. Jeff Scarborough studied philosophy at Stanford (BA) and the University of Pennsylvania (Ph.D.), focusing on the history of philosophy and the philosophy of mind and perception. In previous work, he led the development of a philosophy program and online teaching methodologies at the Stanford Online High School. A current research project develops generally applicable philosophical strategies for thinking and arguing through model texts in politics and political philosophy. Dr. Scarborough has broad teaching interests across the history of philosophy; recent courses include History of Ideas-Ancient Greece and Plato. He is the author of Bricks and Mortar: the making of a real education at the Stanford Online High School. CSLI Press: Stanford, CA (2014) and Perspectives from the Disciplines: Stanford Online High School. CSLI Press: Stanford, CA. (2016), both co-authored with Ray Ravaglia.
About
Academic Transfers
Admissions
Benefits
Contact
Courses
Degrees
Honors Programs
Professors
Student Life
Talent Search
Testimonials
Tuition & Financial Aid
Apply Now
FAQ
Your Privacy Choices