IN THE MEDIA, FINANCIAL aid coverage tends to focus on topics such as the tensions between funding merit scholarships versus need-based grants, the growth in student and parent borrowing, and the need to increase funding for Federal Pell Grants. Federal or state work-study programs get little focus.
During the recent debate over the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program finally got noticed. Out of $98 billion in ARRA funds being managed by the Department of Education, $200 million is for FWS. The total earnings under that program in 2007-2008 were $1.2 billion, an amount virtually unchanged from a decade ago. Annually, approximately 800,000 students work under this program—earning, on average, just under $1,500. The new ARRA funds should enable approximately 130,000 more students to work part-time while in school.
'Our graduates enter their careers with a degree and four years of work experience.' -Sue Head, College of the Ozarks
Pennsylvania, Washington, Minnesota, and Indiana, to name a few, also sponsor student work programs. And many higher ed institutions provide on-campus employment opportunities beyond those funded by state and federal resources.
Handled thoughtfully and creatively, these jobs can provide benefits that go far beyond the dollars earned. For example, they offer students a chance to connect with people on campus. Retention research conducted at many schools finds the influence of $1,000 of on-campus employment on retention is much larger than an equivalent amount of grant support.
In addition, work opportunities can be educationally purposeful or career related, giving students chances to build skills and “marketability” that can help them gain full-time employment after graduation.
In fact, research conducted on work programs sponsored by the Dana Foundation and other philanthropies found that work programs have been particularly successful at meeting multiple goals and objectives. The following abbreviated excerpt from the book that emerged from that research, Shaping the College Experience Outside the Classroom (The University of Rochester Press, 1996) by Jim Scannell and Kathleen Simpson, lists seven goals that can be achieved by work programs:
• The development of individual self-worth and confidence due to the direct reward for the work ethic.
• The development of successful recruitment strategies involving guarantees of career-related, experiential opportunities.
• The creation of meaningful connections with alumni/ae.
• The opportunity to engage alumni.
• The chance to engage employers and let them sample the quality of a school’s “product” (currently enrolled students).
• The opportunity to involve faculty through undergraduate research assistantships while simultaneously advancing the faculty’s scholarly work.
• The chance for institutions to join with the community at large to address social, economic, and environmental problems and challenges.
• The chance to leverage donated funds.
A WORKING EDUCATION
Literally working your way through college is a thing of the past at most institutions, but there are still a handful of colleges at which students work rather than pay tuition. At the College of the Ozarks (Mo.), for example, full-time students work 15 hours a week during each semester and then two 40-hour weeks of their choosing when classes are not in session.
According to Sue Head, executive director of the college’s Keeter Center for Character Education, “Students who attend a work college have the opportunity to not only obtain a liberal arts education but also invaluable work experience at the same time. By ‘working their way’ through college, students invest in their own education and learn valuable skills, not the least of which is time management. Our graduates enter their careers with a degree and four years of work experience and are prepared to meet the demands of today’s competitive marketplace.”
Other institutions, such as Northeastern (Mass.), Drexel (Pa.), and Ketter (Mich.) universities have made career-related co-op and internship experiences part of their “brand.”
Barb Sosin, Kettering’s director of admissions, notes, “Every college and university is looking to distinguish itself from the others. ... We use our co-op brand to set ourselves apart from all the other top-ranked schools. Especially in this economy, we take advantage of cobranding Kettering University with 600 corporate employers.” Students can gain significant, relevant work experience, and their co-op earnings help to make their education affordable, she explains. “The financial benefits of our co-op program are impressive, and we use this to our advantage when selling affordability.”
