Paul Quinn College has made history by becoming the first historically black college to be named a “work college.”
Paul Quinn has met the Department of Education’s standards for the work college designation.
“After a two-year application process, Paul Quinn College has become the first HBCU to meet the Department of Education’s standards for the “work college” designation. As of Monday morning, Paul Quinn now joins seven other institutions trailblazing this new method for potentially reducing student debt,” Raz Robinson wrote in an article regarding the matter.
Paul Quinn is getting serious about potentially reducing debt for its students, providing students with either a job on campus or with a local business in Dallas.
Robinson explained:
“Unlike traditional work study programs, whose distribution is based solely on the student’s financial needs… According to college president Michael Sorrell, due to 80 percent of students being eligible for Federal Pell Grant’s, a majority of the students at Paul Quinn can graduate with less than $10,000 in debt, as well as gain valuable professional training.”
Robinson wrote that “Though work colleges seem like a viable way to reduce college debt, the future of their funding is currently uncertain.”
He continued:
“As of right now, work colleges are allocated funding via the federal work study program, and in its budget proposal last Wednesday, the Trump administration suggested making cuts to the same program. As well as funding cuts, the administration is looking to make monetary allocation more need-based, rather than embracing a model that lets each student work to reduce debt across the board.”
You can read the rest of Robinson’s story here.
