Why putting off college may be the most lucrative plan
July 19, 2009 by Geneva ReidPosted in: Admissions & Financial Aid, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views
Instead of high school students worrying about which colleges they hope to attend, they may be asking a new question: “Should I go to college at all?”
The answer isn’t as clear-cut as you’d think.
More and more higher ed institutions are making it financially worthwhile for students to take time off between high school and college – particularly when students do volunteer work for AmeriCorps.
After putting in one year of service, students can earn up to $4,725 in tuition assistance from AmeriCorps. And now at least 80 schools are offering matching grants.
For example: Dickinson College has a new fellowship that provides students with $10,000 of tuition credit for each year of public service work. There is a four-year – or $40,000 -limit.
Students in Princeton University ‘s tuition-free Bridge Program spend a year living in a community in Ghana, India, Peru or Serbia. Less than half of the 54 students who applied for this fall’s program have been accepted.
The goal of these schools is to encourage service work as well as global awareness.
Is this an idea you think students should consider? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Tags: AmeriCorps, Bridge Program, Dickinson College, Princeton University
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July 25th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
I completely agree that students need to know that there are other options in life besides getting into huge debt by going to college. Particularly students that would need to take out huge loans AND don’t even have any idea as to what they want to study. Going to college was once a luxury and it’s been a “norm” for a couple of generations, but I think that the cost of college today is not too high for kids to just go due to peer pressure or because somehow they’re expected to do so by parents. The idea presented here to encourage students to take at least one year to explore service work which will be rewarded financially is a good one. BUT, there are other ideas as well: travel the world for a year (it might be cheaper than getting a $20K loan for one year at a 4 year institution), or look for a ticket to study abroad in high school first, or test the job market — maybe someone’s calling is not in liberal arts but in something else. The best thing a student can learn is what he/she does NOT want to do in his/her life and there’s no shame in NOT wanting to start your adult life with a huge school debt growing over your head.
July 25th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
I meant to say that “the cost of college IS too high for kids just to go”.
July 30th, 2009 at 10:35 am
I find the following quote confusing in an article that speaks of incentives for students to perform community service between high school and college:
“Students in Princeton University ’s tuition-free Bridge Program spend a year living in a community in Ghana, India, Peru or Serbia. Less than half of the 54 students who applied for this fall’s program have been accepted.”
To say that in a given year less than half of the students who apply to this program are accepted indicates to me that I shouldn’t count on this type of incentive.
August 5th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
I agree with you Tom. That quote makes no sense.
November 11th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Unemployment in the general population is 10.2% (It has been stated to be as high as 17.8% depending on which stats are being used.) Unemployment for individuals with a BS or BA… 4.2%
Since community service and obtaining an education are not mutually exclusive activities, I would encourage doing both.
November 12th, 2009 at 11:28 am
What happened to posts by “Aghast”? I thought he had some very interesting observations. I had been thinking about them and wanting to post a follow-up question: where would you [Aghast] recommend students can get a decent education? Thanks!
March 10th, 2010 at 12:10 pm
More than a few years ago, I read an essay by Caroline Bird titled, “The Case Against College.” It would certainly be a dated piece today, but the thesis is definitely still applicable: that many young people attend college because they don’t want to keep living with their parents and/or they don’t have anything better to do. It is very difficult or impossible for high school graduates to find jobs in the current economy, but delaying higher education in favor of public service or even the military would at least help them learn what they really want to do with their lives.