Student MEA Voices
Student MEA Chair Amanda Howe, a recent
graduate of Michigan State University, is a
teacher intern this school year until April at
Dibble Elementary School in Jackson. MSU’s
education program requires a full year teaching
internship; most college’s only require one
semester. As part of the MSU program, teacher
interns are required to take course work
that will earn them 12 credits toward their
master’s degree. Here are Howe’s thoughts on
the problems college students face under the
current education funding crisis.
As a recent college graduate, I know how hard it is to finance a college education. Fortunately, I was one of the lucky ones that received governmental assistance. If I had been without that, I would have over $60,000 in debt right now.
As a teacher, that would take me about two years to make that much money, let alone save enough to pay it back. I am thankful for all of the assistance that I received.
However, there are so many students that simply do not qualify for financial aid and cannot complete school without it. The government determines prospective college students’ financial needs using their parents’ income with the assumption that the parents will be assisting the student.
This practice puts many students at a disadvantage. I know so many people that did not qualify for financial assistance because their parents made a substantial amount of money.
These same people received no financial assistance from their parents and because of the way that the government determines the distribution of funds received, no financial aid.
This system needs to be changed to make sure that all prospective college students can receive the assistance they need, especially with the increased tuition prices we are experiencing today.
Student MEA member Krystal Ruhno, a senior at Saginaw Valley State University, juggles tutoring and working part-time as a restaurant server with student teaching this year. Her comments follow.
Despite scholarships, grants and student loans, I have always had to juggle 15-18 credit hours of coursework with 25 hours of work each semester. This was always somewhat stressful, yet manageable.
Now that I am student teaching, my time is dedicated to performing all the tasks of a full-time teacher, while also serving five nights each week, and tutoring regularly.
As a special education major, I must complete two semesters of full-time student teaching. I already feel like I am burning out, and I do not have time to relax and really focus on my true passion—working with students with cognitive impairments.
If more funding were made available to me, I would significantly reduce the amount of time spent at my part-time jobs and throw all of my energy into teaching, which is the way things should be.
Western
Michigan University sophomore
Sarah Struett, a Student MEA member who
wants to teach elementary education, relates
the struggle she and her parents are facing to
pay for college.
Throughout the past two years of college, rising tuition costs have led my friends and me on a constant search for more funding.
I was fortunate enough to have received a scholarship from WMU, the only one offered out of all the colleges I applied to attend.
I chose Western because of the scholarship, and thankfully over the years my parents had saved up enough money to pay off most of the bill. The other portion fell into my lap in the form of a loan that is now looming over my head.
Year two of college has been a different story. My parents and I are now the proud owners of a pair of loans and, trying to get the most for our money, I’ve been taking a heavy class load—16 credit hours my first semester and 18 credit hours the second semester. This past fall, starting my sophomore year, I took 15 credits and worked close to 30 hours a week to start erasing the cloud of debt hanging over my head.
Rising tuition costs are not only creating debt for current students, but are making many students shy away from enrolling in higher education.