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At Lackawanna College, we are constantly evaluating innovative ideas on college affordability and alleviating student debt.

As we look at alternative ways to think about financing college, one possible pathway is to offer a kind of ‘work college’ experience. At a traditional ‘work college’, students perform essential institutional functions in every area imaginable on their campuses and gain a strong sense of ownership and responsibility for their campus community.

Students are paid for their work, which helps offset the cost of tuition. At some ‘work colleges,’ students receive a full-tuition credit for their work, while others receive reduced tuition.

I know what you’re thinking…this is just another name for a work-study program. But they are very different…

A ‘work college’:

• Requires that some or all students participate in a comprehensive work-learning-service program for at least a portion of their enrollment;
• Students typically work 6 to 15 hours per week;
• Jobs run the gamut of campus need from teaching assistantships, to accounts payable, to IT, to food services, to grounds keeping, to plumbing, public relations, campus safety, etc.;
• Based on the idea that integration of work-learning-service provides a strong, successful and relevant model for educating students.

If Lackawanna were to venture into this process, do you think parents and students would be open to this concept? Why or why not?