Photo courtesy of: http://www.nationaldebtclocks.org/debtclock/unitedstates
Given my first career as a financial expert and a second budding “careersion” (that’s career plus passion) as an independent education consultant, I feel compelled to weigh in on Hillary Clinton’s recent “New College Compact” to offer free in-state tuition for public universities for students with family income below $85,000 (graduating to $125,000 in a few years). Estimates put the plan costs at about $350 billion over 10 years, but we all know that probably underestimates the true costs. After all we’ll need an entire new agency to manage the program and the lucky students will cry for computer, travel, room and board costs to make this gift a reality – and on and on. Last I looked at the federal debt clock, it was ticking towards the $20 trillion level but hey what’s another $350 billion right?
In my years as a top ranked investment analyst, my most memorable moments of brilliance came to me on my four maternity leaves – there’s nothing like a newborn to step back from your biases and clear your mind of the circular thinking that a 7-7 job 50 weeks per year lulls you into. And so I propose that Hillary take a grand-maternity break to hold her new grandchild while she really ponders the new $350 billion of debt she’s considering drowning her new offspring under. While she’s on leave, I will, on a shoestring budget, create a very workable university education plan.
Here’s my idea in a snapshot:
Name: University for Student Access (USA)
School motto: e pluribus unum (out of many, one)
School mascot: the eagle
School sports: fans of all official US athletes
School arts: all free museums, exhibits, performances, galleries
Curriculum: 4,000 course offerings with every US college or university providing the “classroom experience” of its top professor, as determined by each school’s Board of Trustees.
Delivery mechanism: Online
Requirement for each applicant: access to a computer, an educational goal and a community service contract
Graduation credits requirement: 120 credits – standard 15-credit semester class load, self-paced
Cost to student: $17.76 per credit hour plus computer noted above
Graduation ceremony: DC’s most coveted fundraiser party of the year
My education is the product of a private undergraduate university experience (BS Business from Wake Forest University), a Masters in Finance from a public state university (Georgia State University), a professional designation from a private organization (CFA Institute) and most recently, a candidate for a College Counseling Certificate from a public state university online program (UCLA Extension). In my view, each offered its own pros and cons, but I have to say that my current education experience has proven to me that technology has enabled a truly engaging and low-cost online education opportunity.
What I have learned from my online experience is that to be successful you need a great professor, a uniform course workload expectation, and a dependable technology platform. So my plan would require each of this country’s 4,000 colleges to put forward (at no cost) their single best professor/course in exchange for the federal subsidized loans that already are made to each school’s current student body. This professor would create the online course of his/her own choice based on a pre-determined workload requirement, grading scale and format. All 4,000 courses would be uploaded to the technology platform (no need to reinvent the wheel – Canvas works beautifully) and students can choose whether to follow a prescribed set of courses that would result in a major/minor or select a set of courses of their own choosing to create an interdisciplinary major.
The education would carry a minimal cost so that the student actually values the experience. I’m suggesting $17.76 per credit, which when combined with a computer requirement, puts the total cost for the college education per student at $3,000. At the current federal minimum wage, the total cost of the education could be paid for in one 10-week semester of “work experience”, if necessary. I estimate that with some pro bono help from our very blessed technology gurus in this country, the total revenues from students will more than compensate the team (me and my four teenage children) who will manage the entire USA program.
But here’s the extra bell and whistle! Each student will be required over the course of his/her USA education to touch 17 people’s lives with 76 hours of community service to “make our country great again”. USA will become the hallmark of doing good! We will have an online “wall” where students will log their good deeds. It will be so contagious that each news media will begin to start programs or headlines with a story from the USA Wall. Our Wall will take precedent over Mr. Trump’s Wall and many USA students will have the benefit of becoming reality stars by having truly made a difference in our world (imagine that).
And finally – to celebrate graduation – USA will hold the most coveted fundraiser party of the year in DC. All 4,000 “best” professors will be invited along with the graduates. The commencement speaker will be the President of the United States of America (no commencement speaker fee to be paid). All money raised at the event will be evenly distributed to the community service non-profit of the graduate’s choice.
University for Student Access – total debt required is zero, total students educated is unlimited. E pluribus unum – out of many, one – now, shouldn’t this make headlines? Share this idea to help our current presidential candidates recognize that we can do better!
