MANILA — Mapua University and Malayan Colleges Laguna (MCL) launched Wednesday a "digital-first" college, offering a flexible learning experience to students in the fields of business and technology.

The Mapua Malayan Digital College (MMDC), which operates under MCL, will start holding classes for School Year 2022-2023 in August.

For its first year, the MMDC will offer degree programs in information technology and business administration, its chief learning officer Derrick Latreille said at the college's virtual launch event.

Online synchronous classes are required only once a week for an hour and a half, Latreille said, adding that the setup minimizes the chances of students encountering internet issues since learning would take place mostly through asynchronous sessions.

"We don't have the typical lectures and typical tests. Instead, every class is structured around projects, problems and cases, which means we don't give you a test at the end," Latreille said.

"We evaluate what you produce, the outputs you produce during and at the end of your 12-week course," he explained.

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The college can rent out gadgets to students "for a small fee" that will be paid each term. It will also provide students with pocket WiFis, which is covered in the tuition.

Latreille said one school year in MMDC "could cost as little as less than P60,000 per year and [students] can set up payment terms."

The MMDC will also establish learning hubs in select Ayala Malls, where students can access learning resources and meet their peers in-person to work on projects.

The college will follow MCL's trimester scheme and give graduates MCL diplomas, school officials said.

Students in their final term will also receive intensive job application training.

"We're really coaching you heavily in that last term to get [you] ready to engage [in] the workforce," said Latreille.

Latreille said the MMDC is expecting around "a few hundred" students for its pioneer batch but noted that the learning hubs are capable of handling "over a thousand" learners.

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More information, such as the admission process, can be found on the MMDC website.

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