Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/09/19/raccoon-coats-for-all.html
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Now they just need to cost-of-living adjust this and it’ll be decent.
But with that said, we fucking need something like an “extended high school” that’s just a no-frills, free college at least through a Bachelors degree. No sports, no dorms, nothing but a building with seats and teachers and books paid for through taxpayer funds.
I very strongly suspect that they’re making this move in the first place to avoid a post-2020 bill that forces a major realignment in tuition, fees and housing, though, so don’t give Rice too many hugs.
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It’s just a breath of fresh air to see a school use it’s endowment for something other than property development/landlordism.
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There’s no reason a slight modification to the California (anyway) community college model couldn’t generate something like this. I don’t know what argument would make me take a University of Phoenix bachelor’s degree seriously but I not a Diablo Valley College bachelor’s degree.
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students whose families earn less than $60,000 will pay nothing to attend
As a recent college parent I can tell you that almost all Ivy League and similar top academic tier schools have similar programs already in place for low earning parents, each school with a different threshold.
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Yeah, I think it’s just a big PR move to try and insulate themselves from a major education cost & corruption reform backlash from Millennial voters and because of DeVos.
Maybe this one is more generous than most, but it’s still ridiculous with the massive volume of endowments and other resources that Ivy Leagues have that they even charge for anything at all.
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I went through the application and school touring process with my daughter 5-6 years ago. These policies were not anything new back then. But Rice appears to have created a tiered system that does not limit benefits to the lowest income families.
If anything strong academic schools are putting this in place now to be sure they can compete for the best students whose parents may fall into that bracket.
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You might want to look again at that opening sentence, it’s really confusing following the headline.
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Yeah but if Harvard stopped charging tuition they wouldn’t be able to buy out most of Lower Allston and kick the poor fools that thought they deserved public housing on the Charles.
(/s, obv)
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I don’t buy it - middle class America has been struggling with college costs for a long time now, but just before midterms they put this on full PR blast? It strongly suggests a goodwill-building campaign to me more than a sudden change in heart or shift in the market.
Why would Betsy DeVos give a shit one way or another what Rice does with its $5.5B endowment? It’s not conservatives who are running the private institutions with the big endowments.
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One could ask why Black Water owner Prince, Devos’s brother gives a shit about privatizing US wars around the globe? Maybe, just maybe it’s all about the fucking money???
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Here’s hoping they can keep it up. Cooper Union pretty famously gave a full-tuition scholarship to all students until 2014, but they are hoping to return to full-tuition again in 10 years.
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We don’t agree on all that much – though I agree mercenaries aren’t the way to conduct US foreign policy on pragmatic, moral, political, constitutional, and economic reasons – but I’m just not following you here.
DeVos should be opposed to this move by Rice because Rice, a private institution 100 years old, ought not spend its money as it sees fit? Betsy DeVos doesn’t want Rice to spend money on nice things because she’s a bad person? People and companies make a bunch of money and give it to Rice on a tax-preferred basis. Rice decides how to spend the money according to its charter to up their profile and attract more and better students. I see not the first reason Betsy DeVos could give a shit.
38 REASONS BETSY DeVOS HATES PEOPLE SPENDING MONEY ON STUFF!
#14 IS GIVING KIDS AN OPPORTUNITY NOT AT THE GOVERNMENT’S EXPENSE!
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I’ve a friend’s Mom that went to Berea College in KY. They’ve been tuition free for a long time. There’s also a student work requirement. Neat institution.
I’m glad we can finally agree. I have to go to lunch now.
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Rice might be motivated by the midterms, but I don’t think the schools that put this in place a few years ago are all that moved by our current political climate.
But it is the DeVos family who directly profits off of student loans. Taking a large block of students out of the predatory loan market is terrible for their wallets.
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$5.5B !! JFC, think of the football stadium they could build with that money!
/s
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