HigherEdMorning.comCollege guarantees jobs - or your money back

College guarantees jobs – or your money back

February 16, 2010 by Jacob Hawley
Posted in: Enrollment, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views

One college is taking a bold step to enroll students: a money-back guarantee.

Lansing Community College just announced a new incentive, “Get a Skill, Get a Job or Your Money Back,” aimed at students in short-term training programs.

If students who successfully complete training can’t find a job in the field within the year, the school promises to refund their money.

The offer will apply to four occupational programs: pharmacy technicians, customer service call center workers, certified quality inspectors and home technology integration technicians.

“Why spend money and take time to learn when you may not get a job?” LCC president Brent Knight told the Lansing State Journal.

More details are on the way next month, and the college expects to start its guarantee in May.

Crazy, or just crazy enough to work? Sound off in the comments section.

HigherEdMorning delivers the latest HigherEd news once a week to the inboxes of over 200,000 HigherEd professionals.

Click here to sign up and start your FREE subscription to HigherEdMorning!

  • Kristie

    I foresee a huge number of people abusing this from both sides of the equation. Students will purposely sabotage their chances of getting a job in order to have their money returned. The school will surely implement a bunch of loopholes to avoid having to pay students. Does anything stipulate where the job must be found, i.e. in their service or simply any job? If the student is re-payed, does their degree become nullified? If the student is re-payed and gets a job shortly after, will they have to repay the school? Should they? I think so, in particular to thwart those students who will attempt to abuse this favor by holding out on getting a job just to get their tuition back.

  • Susan Ranson

    I agree with Kristie that this is riskly business. It is good that the college wants to see that their graduates get jobs; however, some are not wanting jobs. They will enjoy getting the education and their money back. Some may really want jobs, but do not think they need to adjust their behavior to obtain one.

  • Jacob

    They already abuse the sytem by getting financial aid to enroll in courses which they never attend.

  • Ann

    As much as I admire the effort to help well deserved individuals, I am afraid the College will get in a serious financial situation. Our College already tightens everything from travel funds for continuing education to supplies because we are in a big hole without the State funds. I have unemployed graduates although there are open jobs locally in my field, not because of their technical skills but the individuals themselves. How can a College guarantee an employment when there are many different factors affect an employer’s hiring decision and many of those factors are uncontrollable by the College and its faculty and staff?

    I can also see the points made by previous comments about abusing the system. I have encountered many students who know their rights (entitlement!!!) but not responsibilities. It’s gotten to have some sort of condition for anyone to provide this type of job guarantee!

  • Gary

    Bravo! This involves courage and risk-taking, traits not normally found in higher ed.

  • Andrea

    Read the article carefully before you jump to conclusions: the guarantee applies only to 4 (FOUR)OCCUPATIONAL training programs (pharmacy technicians, customer service call center workers, certified quality inspectors and home technology integration technicians), not to all degree programs. Students who train to become customer service call center workers are not doing so simply for pleasure or enlightenment, and they will certainly not deliberately avoid getting a job for an entire year just so they can get their tuition money back. In this economy, people want jobs, and they also want to invest wisely. Why should they pay college tuition (often making the choice between paying other bills and investing in their futures) if that tuition will not give them a return on their investment? As colleges, are we so uncertain of the quality of the education and support services we offer that we refuse to guarantee that a student in one of our voc/tech programs will find a job? What a sad commentary!

  • Karen Bailor

    This is what every student would desire, a guarantee like this. In these exceptionally uncertain economic times, this policy would be both popular and risky. I would like to know what criteria other than “not finding a job within a year” that Lansing Community College will use in refunding the course costs, and is it a total refund? This is a very stimulating idea. I think it reveals that we are on the verge of needing a new identity for college training programs, i.e., one that has a much closer relationship between the college and the Employers. Perhaps having extensions of training programs to include externships, establishing post-training volunteering programs to gain on the job experience, etc. and having specific college staff essentially connected to employers in the fields of the type of training they offer would be helpful. I have thought about this alot due to the many manufacturers closing here or moving out of this area leaving hundreds of people desperately seeking new career training in the supposedly more stable allied health field.


advertisement



    Quick Vote

    • During college, did you ever have an internship?

      View Results

      Loading ... Loading ...



    • advertisement


    Recent Popular Articles