Should STEM Majors Get Discount Tuition?
Dear friends of women in science,
Florida recently announced that it would reduce its college tuition for certain majors that were desirable for the state's employment force, including STEM majors. Covered in an article in The New York Times, the state's action shocked a lot of people who like to think students have freedom to choose their major after they have explored options in college. Steve Johnson, author of the article, characterised the Tallahassee ideas as, "Give us engineers, scientists, health care specialists and technology experts. Do not worry so much about historians, philosophers, anthropologists and English majors."
I wonder what the readers of this forum think about that strategy. On one hand, it plays into our desire to foster interest in science among undergraduate students. On the other, might some of the students who are attracted be unsuited for the field? Might they drop out later? Might they lack the dedication needed? What do you think?
cheers,
Laura
Hi Marian and Helen,
Interesting aspects of this issue you've brought out. Yes, it does make sense to reward what you want, and if you do it in grad school, why not in undergrad, Helen. But as Marian says, college is a time of wonder and change for so many, or of disappointment with fields students thought they'd love, so I am concerned about the logistics. We'll have to follow the events in Florida to see how this issue plays out if they fully implement it.
cheers,
Laura
As a mom of a technically competent young adult (AP Calculus as a High School Junior, AP Physics as a Freshman), who is currently studying Music and British Literature, I'd argue no. Kids are way too flaky when they start college. Encourage? yes. Fund? no.
The UCs are arguing to increase tuition for high paying professional schools, such as medicine, engineering, law and business. I don't think that's a good idea either.
My vote would be for tuition for QUALIFIED students to be free, independent of major. But, then we have to define qualified. The current US model is "brokeded'. I would like to see us move to a European model, where college isn't for everyone, but truly qualified students get free tuition.
Marian
Speaking as someone who came from a financially disadvantaged background and was strongly interested in science from the beginning, I would say this is a great approach. If Texas had been able to subsidize my tuition, I would have felt even stronger about my commitment to science, and perhaps would have made the choice I wanted (switch to engineering) if I'd felt that my training would have been valued.
We subsidize grad school for science majors, so why not extend it back to the undergrad arena?
Helen
Hi Laura,
This deserves a "yikes!" in my opinion. Science is hard and sequential and students should not drop in and out based on financial incentives from states, notoriously fickle with money. I also think since not all subjects are even taught in high school, it's unfair to force them to commit before college. And I worry about what happens to their tuition when they quit the science track in midyear after the Chem test. But I realize that such early decisions are the norm in some other countries.
FBP
