The Collegian

Issue date: 9/25/07 Section: Opinion

Money is hard to come by and students normally like to seize any opportunity to snag extra cash for school. Seeing as how education is a pretty big deal, students shouldn't have to limit their educational experiences due to financial difficulty, but it happens.

This year's deadline for January Term scholarship applications was September 13. Something like this should have been widely publicized. Students are informed of miniscule and irrelevant events on campus: Sister Ingrid left the school, Academic Senate is reconvening, the College Guild luncheon is occurring. What is the College Guild anyway?

The school is pretty quick to let us know when we owe money regardless of accurate accounting. Despite making it to the extended studies list, I was still billed for an extra class this term. When it comes to giving us money, it's another long process that we need to schlep through.

It's not the school's responsibility to lead us by the hands, but if certain opportunities are vital to much more than just a small selection of students, it would be advisable to send an e-mail about it. There were a number of e-mails sent regarding early registration for Jan Term study abroad courses, but there were virtually none regarding Jan Term scholarships. If students were expected to rely on word of mouth, then the student population wouldn't be up to date on anything.

One thing administration did do well this year was publicizing when the meetings were for each of the traveling courses. But really, what's the use in receiving information about a course you can't afford?

In addition to their low-key nature, the scholarship criteria are restricting. The information available on SMCNet states there is a "preference for students with higher GPA." How high is high enough? Can they be any more vague? Also, the only suggested applicants are "students who have not previously studied abroad or participated in a January Term travel course."

Not only are these people nitpicky about who gets money for Jan Term, they are providing several thousand dollars just for one person in a lottery. SMCNet states that "in the last few years, at least five scholarships have been made available, each covering 75 percent of course fees for a…travel course." Why can't they reduce the amount of each scholarship and create a greater number of scholarships out of the same budget?

According to the prices listed on SMCNet, the average cost for this year's Jan Term travel courses is $3,020.26, excluding the $60 internship course. Assuming that the costs of these courses don't change, an estimated $2,265 will be awarded to each of the students lucky enough to win. Since I'm such an optimist, pretend that eight students win the lottery this year and have 75 percent of their costs covered by the scholarship. That's about $18,000 total. Wouldn't it be better and more socially just to have 18 scholarships of $1,000 each so that more people are able to fund their Jan Term desires?

As I'm such a realist, I'm not counting on changes, if any, until well after I've graduated.

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