"Let's make college even less affordable! Unless financial aid covers up to the full cost depending on income, this is simply another way to make a college education less affordable on top of tuition increases, the high cost of books, and limits to financial aid."
Just some thoughts.... Your general idea I do agree with. I will add Southern Illinois University just went to this requirement (or desk top) this fall. I have been told the students lease the computers & then when they graduate they can pay a bit more to upgrade & own. Also I went to a high school in Orland Park, IL and a few years back they were going to be leasing computers. I'll check to see if it went through. Some specific degree programs have this requirement at Olivet Nazerene University (Bourbonnais, IL) and when I was at Mississippi State University in 95-96 the architecture program had this requirement I believe. Some of my students have been reimbursed by financial aid in IL for their computers, though they do not pay for the cable to the printer (makes a lot of sense!) I make sure to mention this opportunity to my students. Teaching at a community college I do understand the financial burden students experience, but at the same time I also understand many students will not spend additional outside class time on campus to use our computers. They need to leave to work or go home to family. Many do realize this is a worthwhile investment to work at hours our campus is not open. While there are certainly many students & communities who this would not even be an option if financial does not cover it, the APA Teachers of Psych listserv was just discussing the prices of textbooks and mentioned how many students do manage to have money for the latest clothes, movies, CDs, drinking etc. I just spoke to a student, he told me if something is "required" then financial aid will pay but it has to be in the syllabus, otherwise they will not cover it. Perhaps this is a way to get financial aid to pay through this requirement? Debbie Deborah S. Podwika, M.A., C.S.M. Kankakee Community College Psychology Department P.O. Box 888, River Road Kankakee, IL 60901-0888 Office: 815-802-8712 NEW! Fax: 815-802-8101 NEW! Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] NEW!! Web: http://www.geocities.com/debbiepodwika/ _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
