A Bachelor’s Degree But No Job – Shouldn’t Colleges Stand Behind their Product?
We see where a New York woman has taken the extraordinary step of suing the college where she earned her bachelor’s degree. Trina Thompson, 27, recently filed a lawsuit against Monroe College seeking to recover the $70,000 she spent on tuition.
Thompson was awarded a degree last April in information technology. She is suing the school based on her failure to attain employment in her field of study, insisting that the college’s Office of Career Advancement did not provide her with the leads and career advice the school had promised.
According to her mother, Thompson is “very angry at her current situation.” Indeed, being without work and with student loans now coming due, Thompson finds herself in a real predicament.
Expected Response
Not too surprisingly, Monroe College took strong exception to being sued on such grounds. College spokesman Gary Axelbank used very strong language in responding to the claim, stating that suit was “completely without merit” and did not deserve further consideration.
We suspect that the response of many other school spokespeople would be similar if their school were to be served with such a legal claim. We also have to say that Axelbank is essentially right on legal grounds.
Certainly a college cannot be held liable simply because one of its graduates cannot find employment. Even if the student successfully completed her academic program and was awarded a diploma, a degree is not a job guarantee, certainly not in this job market.
But while Monroe’s response might be expected, it is interesting to note that there are colleges who take this matter to heart. In fact, one small college in Maine, Thomas College, has what it calls its “Thomas Promise.”
Yes, this school stands behind the education it provides and insists that it will help graduates find a job in their profession. And the school backs it up with real dollars.
The Promise
Thomas College is in Waterville, Maine, sharing the town with one of the nation’s top small liberal arts schools, Colby College. For ten years now Thomas has made a special promise to its graduates: a guaranteed job after graduation.
And we are not talking about summer fill in, part-time work. We mean a real job in the student’s chosen field of study.
If a student is unable to find a job by graduation, he or she continues to meet with a college career advisor to find a permanent job. If the student does not find such a job within six months of graduation, then Thomas College will pay the first year of the student’s subsidized federal loans or until they find employment, whichever comes first.
Perhaps even more amazingly, if a graduate finds employment but does not like their chosen profession, he or she may return to Thomas to study tuition-free. The offer includes the costs of up to two additional undergraduate years to take more courses or half of the graduate courses required to complete a Master’s degree program.
The school does set forth two criteria that students must meet to be eligible. You do have to earn at least a 2.75 grade point average and you must, during your undergraduate years at school, do an internship.
Both requirements make sense. You cannot simply skate by, you need to show decent academic progress. And doing an internship just might be one of the most valuable aspects of any college program as it gives students first hand experience working in their chosen field.
Colleges Should Deliver the Goods
The promise represents an amazing commitment but clearly the school works hard on behalf of graduates. Thomas has a placement rate of better than 90% for the ten years of the program. In 2008, in a normal job market year, the school’s placement rate was 96 percent.
Of course, Maine is a bit unusual as only one in three Mainers has a college degree. So, graduates certainly have enormous advantages when it comes to applying for work.
Though the school is the only one we know of making such promise, the steps taken by Thomas are definitely more in line with what one would expect if colleges were to operate within the business sector. Standing behind a product is something we have come to expect especially if that product represents a significant purchase dollar-wise.
Monroe might be okay with its response in a legal sense. And it may be a bit unfair to pass any judgment on the suit; certainly it must be a collaborative effort between the student and the school when it comes to the job search process and we cannot fairly comment on the efforts made by the plaintiff.
But given the cost of a college education, the overall matter deserves serious thought. In fact, we think that it is time that every school stands behind the product it delivers.
August 8th, 2009 at 2:31 am
Wow it’s interesting to hear about Thomas College. Students would love to go to such colleges. But I think that the step is a personal choice and students should not sue colleges as the colleges aren’t bound by any agreements to ensure employment to their students.
August 8th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
I would have to empathize with this young lady because I am still going through a similar situation. I put myself through college, graduating in 2007; all while getting a divorce and raising two children. I graduated cum laude and with my bachelor degrees in three areas. And I still cannot find a career in any of my fields. I chose a job that was (and still is) a great place to work. But, now that I am part-time, and resources are limited, finding a full-time position is imperative. I must pay down my mega loans as well, and the interest is really racking up. So, I truly understand where she’s coming from!!
August 14th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Yes, colleges should be responsible for the product it delivers. If colleges make millions and those that make them rich are left penny-less, obviously there is some issues that need attention. This is our educational system and it is corrupt. We need to sue all colleges, we need to revolt, this has to end. College should be free!
August 15th, 2009 at 7:03 am
I really like the idea of Thomas College standing behind their “product”. Students pay big bucks to go to school and if you successfully complete the school’s program, that means you are prepared to have a job in your field and the college needs to work to help you do that.
August 19th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
This article makes Thomas seem a lot greater than it actually is. I’m a recent graduate from Thomas, and I’m still looking for work. I completed an internship, had well above the required GPA, but did not qualify for the job placement program. This is due to the fact that not a single staff member, or even my own “advisor” mentioned all of the flaming hoops you need to jump through before starting the internship. Upon finding all of this out after it was completed, it was too late.
Also, the placement means almost nothing if you have preference on where you want to work. I’m a person who’s very close to friends and family, and I love many of Maine’s qualities, so I’m looking to work locally. I even told this to the career counselor, and the first job he linked me to was a job in Jersey, like he just completely disregarded my request. Knowing Thomas and their money-grubbing tactics anyway (I can’t recommend this school if you don’t like being robbed), I’m sure that if I had qualified for the “promise”, I wouldn’t have been given the free tuition or anything like that if I was being selective.
For anybody who is thinking of going to Thomas after reading this article, consider yourself warned. Everything about this school, from the education, the housing, the food, and their “promise”, is simply mediocre, but the price is not. What they offer is no better than that of a state university, and the cost difference between Thomas and a university is basically paying for their wishy-washy promises that may or may not actually help you.
November 5th, 2009 at 5:04 am
Yes I do believe colleges and universities should stand behind what they have to offer, because the bottom line is student go to universities and colleges hoping that it will make them more employable when the fact is they dont do that at all, however in the advertisement they conduct they make these claims that their students are getting their dream jobs. I recently graduated from Biotechnology the field that is booming worldwide however even 6 months after graduating there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
I have told potential employers that i am willing to work for free at numerous circumstances only for get no response at all. If I known before hand that universities and collages are lieing to get in more students and more money i would’nt have went to a university in the first place and paid 12 grand cash for the first year and be under debt of over 30 grand now.
November 13th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
I totally agree. I graduated in 2001 with a degree in psychology. I was hoping to land a job as a social worker, but they wouldn’t hire me because I lacked experience. I could’ve gotten that experience working at an $8 an hour job for four years instead of going to college. Rather than getting a low paying job to gain experience in my field, I got temp job paying 1.5 times that much and gained experience in the insurance industry. I now make more doing this than I would’ve if I had gotten a job as a social worker. The ironic thing is that many of my co-workers don’t have degrees, but are trying to get them so they can get better paying jobs (that don’t exist). Go figure.