University Business - December 2007 - (Page 55)

A WORKING Education valuable experience—and less graduation debt. By Chelan David Work colleges reduce operating costs while giving students S TUDENTS AT MOST COLLEGES AND universities across the nation choose to work for a number of diﬀerent reasons: as a way to obtain spending money, to help pay tuition, or simply as a social outlet. At work colleges, student jobs are serious business—an integral and compulsory part of the educational journey. Relying on student labor, the small fraternity of work colleges strives to reduce the debt load of students while providing practical work experience. Seven Strong The ﬁrst known manual labor institution was established nearly two centuries ago, according to Work Colleges Consortium research. Opened in 1814, the Maine Literary and Theological Institute provided its students the opportunity to earn their education by laboring at the college’s farm and shops. Founded by the Baptist denomination, the school attracted young men who were drawn to ministry but lacked suﬃcient funds to attend college. In the early 1800s, the church was at the vanguard of providing education to the masses. American education was prohibitively expensive to most and typically reserved for property owners. The concept of integrating labor and academics not only provided a sense of equality—where Americans regardless of their social class could attend college—but also aﬀorded churches the opportunity to train qualiﬁed ministers. Soon seminaries across New England and as far west as the Mississippi River turned to manual labor as a means of easing the ﬁnancial burden of college. At one point there were hundreds of work colleges. Few, however, survived the late 1830s. The primary hindrance was ﬁnancial. The monetary obligations associated with endeavors such as running a farm or funding a vocational shop were simply too much for institutions to shoulder as proﬁts failed to materialize quickly universitybusiness.com enough to repay capital investment. But there are still seven federally recognized work colleges in the United States: Alice Lloyd College (Ky.), Berea College (Ky.), Blackburn College (Ill.), College of the Ozarks (Mo.), Ecclesia College (Ariz.), Sterling College (Vt.), and Warren Wilson College (N.C.). Ranging in size from Sterling College, with an enrollment of approximately 100 students, to Berea College and College of the Ozarks, which have nearly 1,500 students each, today’s work colleges continue to advocate the basic principles set forth at the dawn of the 19th century. “Work colleges are committed to an educational philosophy that argues that the student ought to help out in the running of the institution—everything from manual labor to oﬃce work,” says Richard Ekman, president of The Council of Independent Colleges. “They emphasize that part of going to college ought to be Tractor operation and repair is one educational opportunity for Warren Wilson students placed on the farm crew. December 2007 | 55 http://universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of University Business - December 2007

University Business - December 2007 Contents College Index Company Index Advisory Board Editor's Note Behind the News Viewpoint Admissions On The Hill Marketing Future Stock Independent Outlook Technology Spending Survey '08 Conference Call A Working Education 30 Smart Business Ideas Educause in Emerald City What's New Calendar of Events End Note

University Business - December 2007

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