Our Voice: Resorting to a refundable education

We’ve come to college for more than just an education. We came to get jobs. So what happens on that ever-looming day when we step into the real world and we don’t have any place to work, even a year after graduation (which is becoming seemingly more likely)? Well, if you graduated from Lansing Community College, in Lansing, Mich., then the money you spent on your college education would be completely refunded.

Michigan’s third largest community college is offering a money-back guarantee for some of its students. The refund is available to students who earn a certificate that grants qualification to be a call-center specialist, pharmacy technician, quality inspector or computer machinist, if they haven’t found a job within a year of graduation.

The total cost of the six weeks worth of courses needed for qualification costs students an average of $2,400. Those who are accepted into the innovative program cannot miss any classes or assignments. Students also have to go through special skills training and attend job fairs. After completing the courses, students must also prove they’re actively looking and applying for jobs.

Regardless of all the requirements, with the national unemployment rate at 9.7 percent, the college is taking a risk with this promise, but it’s nice to see a school that has so much confidence in the education it offers that it’s willing to pay the price if its alumni can’t make it in the real world.

According to USA Today, in 2009 53 percent of college students at four-year universities graduated within a six-year span. Universities have been trying to find ways to bring in more students and increase the number of graduates.

While GCSU may never offer a money-back guarantee, it’s not a bad idea for other community and/or technical colleges to do so. The program is a great marketing move to draw in more students. People who might not otherwise consider higher education might decide to apply, given the lack of financial risk. If other colleges began adopting this same policy, there would likely be a spike in the number of adults with higher education degrees nationwide.

With so much focus on rising tuition costs and extensive student loans, a university that offers a money-back guarantee stands out among the rest as a place where education, as well as students’ futures, really matters.

Please send responses to

ColonnadeLetters@gcsu.edu.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 16 2010. Filed under Our Voice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry