Should PUBLIC univs redistribute tuition revenue to fund FA for low income students?

[BCEagle91]

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<p>Anymore, a bit more on-topic - another area worthy of consideration is far greater
availability of technical / occupational training as an alternative to college. I know
many, many kids for whom college tuition isn’t the real problem - many wouldn’t
go even if it were free. Coming from low- to middle-income families, they want to
earn some money, now, and the thought of four more years of little/no income isn’t
as appealing as getting some retail job and earning some money <em>now</em>. I’d argue
many of those same kids might make a different choice if they were offered the
alternative to learn a skilled trade, such as computer systems admin, carpentry,
electrician, HVAC, etc. </p>

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<p>This is what community colleges are for in many states. These used to be called vocational/technical colleges but I think that they’ve come under the community college umbrella. The ones in my state were more focused on voc/tech in the past but have added more academic courses. This is why our kids took community college courses out-of-state when they were in their high-school years - I didn’t like the offerings in our state.</p>

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<p>Bear in mind, many of the most successful people in our history never graduated
from college - I’d suspect many of them were restless, creative types who couldn’t
sit still for four (more) years - Michael Dell, Larry Ellison, Bill Gates, Mark
Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, none of them finished college. </p>

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<p>That’s a pretty nice list.</p>

<p>I would also like to see companies sponsoring students too. We have lots of companies that state that they have openings but that there aren’t enough graduates with the particular skills that they need. I’d like to see companies sponsor students through college - the students have to be in a particular major, work at the company during breaks and work for the company for a few years in return for greatly discounted university costs. Kind of a corallary to Teach for America except the company pays up-front. Companies right now want the student to pay for the training and take the gamble that they will get hired. Well companies can get exactly what they want if they contribute to paying the costs.</p>