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September 02, 2010 4:19 PM
The Job Guarantee
A small college in Michigan has taken the remarkable step of guaranteeing that its students will get jobs if they finish school. And not just any jobs, good jobs. According to a piece by Daniel de Vise at the Washington Post:
Albion College… may be the first institution of its sort to guarantee students “meaningful employment” after graduation.
The Albion Advantage kicks in with this year’s freshmen, who are on pace to graduate three years and nine months from now. The pledge is an offer of help to students who don’t find a fulfilling job in a reasonable span: by the end of summer or, for December graduates, within a month. The college will offer several types of support, including internships, research assistant positions, even the chance to return to school and take more classes at no charge. Students have two years to invoke the pledge.
That’s an interesting offer and a welcome sign that the liberal arts college does at recognize that its students do have some (pretty limited) expectations for their degrees. It may be hard for students to meet those expectations in this economy.
Still, including room and board Albion College costs $40,331 a year. If students can’t find a job they don’t want internships or “the chance to return to school and take more classes,” they want a job. How’s Albion going to help with that? [Image via]
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Ian MacInnes on September 08, 2010 10:24 PM:
I'm not sure how a guarantee is evidence that students' expectations are limited. It should be evidence that Albion knows its graduates achieve more success than is now attributed to the liberal arts by blogs like this one. The guarantee (even using internships and free extra credits) would be financially impossible unless most graduates didn't need the extra help.