Getting What You Pay For

After a month-plus hiatus, I'm back on the blogging wagon.   Not that school hasn't been constantly on my mind, between the Faculty Retreat in early September, the 4 days of Professional Development two weeks ago, and the ever-crazy first week of Fall Quarter just past.

I wanted to ease back into my writing by reflecting on an NPR story that I heard on my way to Professional Development Day #1: "Student Loan Defaults Rise, Especially At For-Profits." 

It makes sense that the default rate on repaying loans is soaring, along with all the other economic blowout we see around us.  The facts covered in the story about the exponential rate of default among for-profit students, though, surprised me.  Having four years working at one of those for-profits under my belt, you think I'd know...but really, the advising and financial aid side of things was so far removed from my experience teaching there, I had no idea what tuition even cost.  As a matter of fact, I still don't, now that I'm solely employed for the state community college.

Lots of mitigating factors explain why the for-profits are creating these numbers, and I'm not out to defame those institutions here.  (I'll save that for other posts....)  Instead, this story is a helpful reminder to me that I shouldn't let my head get stuck in the sand about what my students are paying, for the privilege of letting me have my dream job.  We instructors probably should be aware of what, exactly, college costs, and how the costs may vary among our student populations.  (One factoid from Prof. Development days: international students pay 2-3 times what in-state students pay, and they don't have the typical financial aid structures available to help out, either.) 

I'm not advocating for the student-as-consumer model, by any means.  I often consider the time costs of my classes on my students--how long certain projects should take, and striking the right balance each week to keep things on target.  I tend not to think about the monetary costs as much, especially since I don't choose the textbooks that are required for the courses.   Now's a good time to for me to start.

One final note from the NPR story: "'Whereas only about 13 percent of students at community colleges are even taking out student loans, about 97 percent of students at for-profit two-year colleges are taking out federal student loans.'"  Makes me even more amazed at what my students now must sacrifice to be in the classroom (virtual or physical) with me!