Visitor essay: Fall is an indication of change! Let’s change our notion of upper training

by Alicia Kalka

Rising up in West Virginia, I’ve all the time beloved this time of 12 months.  Fall is a reminder that change is on the horizon.

West Virginians, fall is a time to alter your mind-set relating to the worth of a school diploma.

The folks of West Virginia watched a personal college shut its doorways, leading to college students needing to discover a new dwelling inside a matter of days. The massive R1 college within the state goes by way of tutorial transformations, leading to vital diploma program closures.

This information has translated into job loss, uncertainty, financial impacts and continued questions on why school is price it. I get it! I’d query why school is price it, too, if this had been my expertise.

In earlier essays, I mentioned the significance of a school diploma and the impression that incomes school levels had in my life. My levels led me to a profession I really like and discover purposeful. I really like working in greater training and serving college students of West Virginia and past. I really like having the ability to share my very own journey and why going to varsity made sense to me.

With all of the damaging information about greater training, how can I probably persuade you to nonetheless go to varsity? And for individuals who are taking a break from pursuing a level, why am I so passionately encouraging you to complete what you began? As a result of I really like West Virginia and I sincerely consider the way forward for our state relies on it!

Increased Training Coverage Fee’s Jennifer Grossman launched survey outcomes from West Virginia highschool college students. The survey outcomes had been startling: Wwhile almost 80% of our present highschool college students are contemplating or eager about going to varsity, lower than 47% do.

Once we begin to consider why so few highschool college students within the state are going to varsity, I maintain listening to among the similar solutions: ‘It’s not price it,’ ‘it’s too costly,’ ‘I could make good cash with out a school diploma’ and ‘I don’t even know the place to start out!’

I can clarify why it’s price it, how one can afford it, the long-term features on making good cash and the place to start out.

 There are a lot of universities within the state which are taking actionable steps to drive down the price of attendance, like Fairmont State College (the place I work). Bear in mind, not each college expenses the identical tuition.

Scholarship alternatives are totally different and fluctuate by college. For instance, if a college says they will provide you with $22,000 in scholarship cash, take note of the schooling and price of attendance. They might give you a big quantity as a result of their complete value of attendance is excessive.

Going to varsity is about long-term features and acquiring a profession you discover purposeful. Do you know that most individuals with a university diploma make $1.2 million extra over their lifetime than these with out a school diploma? We’d like extra folks with school levels to remain within the state of West Virginia and work. And, sure, we have now jobs right here that require a university training. STEM, well being care, enterprise and training are all profession paths that require some type of post-secondary training. West Virginia has many profession alternatives in these fields of research — we want folks such as you to earn your diploma or, if you happen to’re taking a break, return to varsity and end your diploma!

If you’re battling the place to start out or methods to have that dialog, you possibly can attain out to folks like me. I might help you and show the significance of ending your diploma. I can share with you ways my school levels have helped me all through my life and supplied me with profession mobility.

I selected to put money into myself and I’m glad that my MawMaw and oldsters inspired me to go to varsity. You possibly can change the course of your life, and that is your season!

Alicia Kalka serves as an affiliate vice chairman of Enrollment and Pupil Life at Fairmont State College, the place she oversees the Admissions and Welcome Heart staff inside Enrollment Administration, along with varied scholar life areas at FSU.