Thursday, April 8, 2010
A College Offers Job Guarantees - Or Else a Refund
This is an interesting article about Lansing Community College in Michigan offering 61 applicants a chance to take a six-week long course in a specified technical area with a money-back guarantee if they don't land a job within one year. While the students won't get a degree, they will earn a certificate of qualifaction as call-center specialists, pharmacy technicians, etc. It is an interesting proposition, but even more interesting is the timing and location where this is taking place. LCC is located in an area of Michigan where unemployment is at 11.7%, with little prospect of lessening in the near future. New jobs aren't being created, and the number of job opportunities are actually decreasing. It's certainly a risky move proposed by LCC to offer a refund if students don't get a job, but on the other hand it may force these students to put more effort into the job search, especially with a certificate of qualification in their hands.
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4 comments:
I think this is a good opportunity if you are into the jobs offered, but I'm wondering who these jobs would appeal to if you have to pay that much just to be guaranteed a job? And in this area the unemployment rate is 11.7% and they guarantee a job within a year but why not just take your degree to another city? Most graduates would probably get a job within a year if they really tried and a job that pays more too. If jobs aren't being created, I'm also wondering how they will place these graduates into positions in this city. Overall, I just don't think this sounds that great because it seems that a graduate from another school could get an even better job within the same time period.
Lansing Community College would probably attract many students, as they are guaranteeing a job or money back. However, I agree with Lindsey. It would be hard to find jobs as the unemployment rate is 11.7% and the jobs don't seem to be very appealing. However, it is probably a method of making students get skills and not give up completely during this downturn.
I agree with both of you, it seems like this would be a great deal up front, but probably in actuality, the jobs aren't that pleasing. Look at this article about the decrease in salaries for college students:
http://money.cnn.com/2010/04/08/news/economy/college_graduates_starting_salary/index.htm
This a very interesting approach. I think it will increase the number of people to seek some kind of training skill as mentioned in order to get the jobs they want. It is very appealing but a risky one for LCC. I will be interested to know what how this offer turns out years from now.
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