The MCA Story

In 2000 and 2001, MCA's Chairman, Dr. Anthony J. Guerra, became a visiting scholar at Harvard University, where he did a major research project on college admissions. To Tony's surprise, he found a persistent failure rate such that only 53% of college students pursuing a four-year degree earned it within 6 years. In addition, 28% of freshman nationally did not continue their studies at their original school. Colleges typically explained this by pointing to the high schools and blaming the students' lack of preparation – but the data showed that this line of reasoning was indefensible. The fact is that some colleges take "under-prepared" freshmen and help them succeed, while other colleges have less success with "well-prepared" freshmen. He also discovered that financial considerations often play a role in student retention rates.

In 2001, Tony put together a team of personal college consultants and dedicated himself to helping students identify and get into their best fit schools. However, his real ambition was to create a level playing field for all students who did not have access to private college consulting experts.

Tony and his team therefore created an affordable system that recommends schools with a proven track record of supporting their students as measured by retention and graduation rates. He further refined his college selection system to account for the three most important factors that determine the success and happiness of students in college – appropriate location, type and size and proper competitive level – that are critical in determining best fit schools for students. The MCA Program integrates all of these factors, resulting in MCA receiving a US Patent in January 2007 for its college selection system.