College Media Network - Search the largest news resource for college students by college students Jobs and internships for students -

The Independent Collegian > Forum

Nothing’s Guaranteed

By

Print this article

Published: Monday, August 24, 2009

Updated: Monday, August 24, 2009

Amid the University of Toledo’s budget crisis and the broader financial downturn affecting the American economy, UT has embarked upon its first year of the UT Guarantee scholarship program. The program, which was anticipated to receive around 100 students (more or less), has 408 students from Ohio’s 21 largest low-income school districts as its first class of Blue and Gold Scholars. Though UT’s outreach to less fortunate, but equally qualified students is commendable at the very least, the administration should be wary of the drawbacks of such an initiative and cautious not to overextend itself financially in these trying times.

Trial runs are always risky business, and institutions should always leave room for mistakes; however, during this budget shortfall and nationwide recession, an error on the balance sheet could be costlier than ever.

University administrators have been quoted as saying that the Guarantee program will be “cost-neutral” or even generate up to $4 million of revenue this year and over $11 million of revenue if they experience favorable retention rates.

While the projected $4 million return in revenue on an over $1 million investment is a solid gain, there is no guaranteeing such a financial return in these uncertain times. If the program winds up being “costneutral,” the university administrators will find themselves in a difficult position: whether they should continue with the UT Guarantee, or not. With a slate of major projects already underway, such as the alternative energy campus, and housing and parking accommodations becoming more burdensome an issue, the administration must be careful in deciding how to best utilize its diminishing funds.


Yet, on a more positive note, if the predicted revenue is in fact attained, the generated funds can then be recycled to fund the next year’s class of Blue and Gold Scholars. Moreover, a portion of the $4 million should be devoted to alleviating the budgetary pains suffered by academic departments and administrative offices throughout UT. This will ensure that all three dimensions that constitute a university – the students, faculty and administration – will have their financial needs met.

Another issue that arises from the Guarantee program is one of quality. That is, can UT expect to consistently receive legitimate B-average students, or will high school teachers at the 21 targeted schools practice grade-inflation in order to qualify their students for the UT Guarantee? If grade-inflation does emerge as an issue, neither UT nor the students will benefit. It will only weaken UT’s academic rapport and place under-prepared students in classes that may be too advance for them.

Though the administration is establishing the UT Guarantee with the best intentions of providing lower-income Ohioans with access to higher education, they should be prudent and not disregard the other 20,000 plus individuals that make up the UT community. With another round of layoffs up and coming and an increase in
enrollment sans UT Guarantee, the university cannot afford to lose on this investment. The university must not only guarantee these underprivileged students a fullride, they must also strive to guarantee them a quality education and wholesome college experience.

Recommended: Articles that may interest you

3 comments

Kel
Fri Aug 28 2009 10:12
haha! did you see them make fun of this article on the ut website???????

http://journals.utoledo.edu/headlines/index.php/the-good-the-sad-and-the-confusing

Jack
Wed Aug 26 2009 09:27
"Whatever the cost to UT ... in dollars, the sacrifice is unquestionably worth it ethically."

Dead on. Which is why the administration should avoid making outlandish claims about the ability of this program to generate X million dollars. These predictions could end up sounding pretty silly a year from now.

Avid IC Reader
Mon Aug 24 2009 23:51
This editorial seems confused and misguided to me. First off, the notion that UT Guarantee is motivated primarily or exclusively by financial gain is, I suspect, not at all reflected in the minds of UT administrators (and is really kind of insulting). The program serves to advance social justice, and this consequence is what deserves attention. A diverse student body representative of society at large is not only an integral part of a quality higher education - something relevant to all students, faculty members, and other university community members. It is also a significant means by which we as a society can rid ourselves of all meaningful socioeconomic distinctions that enforce, in a de facto manner, modern racism.

With this in mind, I dare to say that the existence of 408 recipients of this scholarship as opposed to 100 is hardly a thing by which to be troubled. Whatever the cost to UT (and, by the way, I hardly think the amount is that significant given supplemental federal and state scholarship funding) in dollars, the sacrifice is unquestionably worth it ethically. I see reflected here the same types of concerns that in part are crippling meaningful health care reform for our nation (where if we hazard an attempt at reform, we threaten our privileged selves with a collapse of our own access to higher education or health care).

As a civilized nation, we must come to a point where we acknowledge that if certain inalienable rights such as to health care and education cannot be conferred upon us all, despite this nation's riches, then perhaps none of us deserve it. I say this not seriously advocating a return to Medieval standards of living. Rather, I say it with the assumption that, equipped with this nation's wealth, we certainly can provide these goods to the whole of society by virtue of a major reorientation of how we spend our money and consume resources - an all too appropriate and due shift. In other words, if we continue to tolerate an economic system that allows for largesse for the few, those of us who benefit from such a system don't deserve even those rights that ought to be available to all.

408 students is not too many. It is too few.

And what if the program does somehow become untenable financially? Doesn't this institution owe itself and the rest of society a "trial run" (one that obviously won't bankrupt the university)? I think so, especially if the program is simply "cost neutral" (it is somewhat perverse to suggest the program should generate money to continue to exist.) True, if in the course of pursuing this program administrators realize it can't continue, they will be charged with the unsavory task of scrapping it. But does this mean they shouldn't try it to begin with, sending at least 408 or so students on to increasingly probable personal and professional success with a college diploma? I think not.

But, if the existence of this program increases financial stress on this university to a significant degree, I submit that there are other areas of the university budget that are far more expendable and the cutting of which would realize more drastic cost-savings than initiatives similar to this.

Regarding the above claim that grade inflation might send underprepared students to UT: I don't recall if I've ever heard a response from UT administrators regarding this legitimate concern, but rather than invoking the issue tangentially in the context of this editorial, perhaps the IC would do better to investigate grade inflation through a story dedicated to the topic.

Finally, I'd like to address the final paragraph of this piece. Just to reiterate, programs like the UT Guarantee do not operate at the expense of those members of the UT community not directly benefitting from it. They only enhance the quality of education offered and produce a more just society.

(P.S. It is worth noting for readers of the IC that most if not all monies associated funding the "alternative energy campus [construction], and housing and parking accommodations [construction]" come from state appropriations and/or bonds, funds not transferable from or to academic programs like the UT Guarantee. In other words, if this or any other scholarship program operates in the red, it will not threaten these capital projects.)







log out