Posted on 03/17/2014 7:33:28 AM PDT by reaganaut1
MEDFORD, Mass. — Colleges are paying students to take a year off after high school to travel, volunteer or do internships so that students of all income brackets can benefit from “gap years.”
A new program at Tufts University and existing ones at a handful of other schools aim to remove the financial barriers that can keep cash-strapped students from exploring different communities and challenge their comfort zones before jumping right into college.
The gap year program starting this fall at Tufts will pay for housing, airfare and even visa fees, which can often add up to $30,000 or more.
Although gap years are more popular in Europe, they have started to gain traction in the United States. About 40,000 Americans participated in gap year programs in 2013, an increase of nearly 20 percent since 2006, according to data gathered by a nonprofit called the American Gap Year Association.
In 2009, Princeton University began offering applicants gap-year aid based on need. Nearly 100 students have participated, volunteering in Brazil, China, India, Peru and Senegal.
The University of North Carolina offers $7,500 to gap year applicants, while students at Wisconsin’s St. Norbert College can receive financial aid based on need, although airfare isn’t covered.
Lydia Collins, a 19-year-old Tufts freshman from Evanston, Ill., said she took a gap year because she wanted to see what was outside of the classroom before committing to four more years of school.
(Excerpt) Read more at journalnow.com ...
What an absolute load of crap. I am all for someone taking time off before going to college to do other things, but to have colleges footing the bill for it, which means the PARENTS (via higher tuitions) and eventually all of us TAXPAYERS because we all know the government is just going to rubber-stamp as okay all defaults on student loans.
This burns me up.
Agreed. It was one of the most valuable experiences I have had in my life, and at the time, it was critical.
It wasn't that I wasn't responsible or dedicated, but being a young man in the military taught me a lot of things that have served me well the rest of my life since then.
How to be neat. How to be on time. How to observe a chain of command. How to accept and deal with responsibility. How to live on my own without any family or friends around, and so on.
I owe my country something I will never be able to fully repay.
American students meet so many foreigners and immigrants in their own colleges, plus ethnic minority groups in college, that a semester abroad is now redundantly wasteful.
Taking a year off (more like 15 months) between HS and college is a damn sure way to land yourself in a bunch of pre-type and remedial classes if you ever do start classes. If you’re lucky, adds another semester, not so fortunate maybe 2 semesters; the university will make the money back.
Your response re how the military can help most of us in our lives is excellent:
“Agreed. It was one of the most valuable experiences I have had in my life, and at the time, it was critical.”
“It wasn’t that I wasn’t responsible or dedicated, but being a young man in the military taught me a lot of things that have served me well the rest of my life since then.”
“How to be neat. How to be on time. How to observe a chain of command. How to accept and deal with responsibility. How to live on my own without any family or friends around, and so on.”
“I owe my country something I will never be able to fully repay.”
“I “found myself” by working!”
Amazing how that can happen with so many of us.
That's what I did, having been so foolish as to choose the wrong parents.
I saved enough money during my military service to pay for my first year of college, then worked part-time to pay for the rest.
I have always felt that there were a lot of young people who could benefit positively from a stint in the military.
Not everyone, but many.
With that said, I must qualify...I do not believe in the draft, unless we are at war and must do so. I don’t believe people should be forced to, even though I believe there are some who SHOULD be forced...:)
I think the military has really benefitted recruitment-wise from the ongoing Baraqqi Depression.
It’s one of the only job venues available.
My son is currently in college and we see a number of his friends having to take out student loans and struggling to meet bills. None of them qualify for student aid because their parents make too much-even though few of them help with the costs. There are many of these college programs that are simply handing over money to “at risk” kids who don’t give two hoots about a degree.
If there is ever an example of wealth redistribution, it’s colleges. But in this case many students are saddled with enormous debt. For sure there is something to be said about not going to college and taking out these loans. But perhaps if universities stopped giving away student money, tuition would be more like $10,000 a year rather than $30,000.
You’ve identified the “Big Education” cycle:
A great way to channel borrowed money to schools who pay high salaries to professors and admins who donate to Democrats.
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