Qualitative
Analysis on Former Rutgers Students
By
Amy Wood
During the
past three weeks,
Rutgers-Camden Methods and Techniques of Social Research students have
been
interviewing former Rutgers-Camden students as to why the left Rutgers,
if they
were going to any other academic institutions since leaving, if there
was
anything Rutgers could have done to make things better for the student,
and
finally if the respondent had any suggestions for Rutgers.
After looking over all 79 of the survey
responses and putting the different reasons students gave for leaving Rutgers
into categories, there were twenty-two different reasons as to why
people chose
to leave Rutgers. Ultimately four of the
twenty-two
categories had the greatest number of responses. The four categories
include
dissatisfaction with administration, personal reasons, Rutgers
didn’t offer the major they wanted, and finally the cost of tuition is
too
expensive to afford.
The one point that interested me the
most was the cost of tuition. Seventeen of the respondents mentioned
having
financial issues of some sort and that Rutgers
was too
expensive for them to afford. One of the
respondents simply stated that she left because “you guys cost too much
money.”
I found this interesting because out of all of the local universities,
I felt
that Rutgers was the most affordable and wanted
to
investigate.
After realizing how much
of a
problem tuition was to some of Rutgers former
students,
I wanted to look at the reasoning in depth. Did anything else come into
play
when considering the tuition at Rutgers? Were
any other
reasons given in connection with the price of tuition? After looking
into these
questions, I noticed that many of the students added that financial aid
and the
administration posed problems that did not help to alleviate the strain
of
tuition.
Of the seventeen respondents who
mentioned that tuition posed a problem for them and that was why they
chose to
leave Rutgers-Camden, eight of the respondents mentioned that financial
aid and
the administration at Rutgers could have been
more
helpful with tuition. One respondent simply stated that financial aid
should be
improved and that Rutgers should reward
students with
tuition discounts for a high grade point average. Another respondent
stated
troubles with financial aid and had they been able to get financial aid
they
would still be attending Rutgers Camden because they loved the teachers
and the
campus. Many respondents reiterated what was stated by the two
respondents that
I mentioned above the financial aid offices were unorganized and
unhelpful and
it added to their frustrations with the price of tuition.
I was then interested in how many of the eight respondents that
cited
problems with financial aid and lack of help from the administration
were
currently attending another educational facility after leaving
Rutgers-Camden.
Of the eight respondents, five are attending classes else where. Three
respondents are currently taking classes at Camden
County College,
one respondent is taking a class at Burlington
County College,
and one respondent is taking online classes.
These facts intrigued me farther; over half of the students who
could
not get financial aid at Rutgers or experienced
problems
with Rutgers administration regarding financial
aid were
attending classes elsewhere. Why was that? Is the price of classes at
county
college extremely cheaper then classes at Rutgers?
Was
financial aid easier to come by at a county college? After
investigating Camden County
College’s
website, their in-county tuition for a 3 credit class is $249.00 and
out-of-county
it is about $261.00 with an additional $51.00 service fee. Therefore,
the total
price ends up being about $300.00 per class. If a person is taking a
typical
class load of five classes, which would be about $1,500.00 per semester
so ultimately
it costs about $3,000.00 per year. I then compared those prices to
Rutgers-Camden and was shocked at the price difference. Rutgers–Camden
tuition
according to Rutgers-Camden’s website is currently $10,614.00 for N.J.
residents that commute and it is $19,783.00 for out of state residents
that
commute and adjustments are made according to how many credits but this
is the
standard price of tuition for Rutgers (Rutgers
University). There is over a
$7,000
difference between taking classes at community college and taking
classes at
Rutgers. If I knew how much I could have saved by going to community
college
before attending Rutgers, I probably would have
chosen
to go to community college also.
Another aspect that was mentioned earlier
and I think should be addressed is the idea that Rutgers
students who achieve a high grade point average should be rewarded with
lower
tuition prices. I know that currently in N.J., there is a program
called NJ
Stars “which is a scholarship program exclusively for N.J. residents
that
covers the cost of tuition and approved fees at N.J.’s 19 community
colleges.
Students that graduate high school in the top 20% are eligible. NJ
Stars covers
up to five semesters of tuition and approved fees at the student’s
local
community college” (njccc.org) The NJ Stars II program offers free
tuition for
students who graduated from community college with an associate’s
degree and
completed NJ Stars I program. The program covers tuition for the
remaining two
years at a four year college that is on the states approved list. Maybe
if Rutgers
offered programs from the start of a student’s academic career for
having good
grades without having to enroll in Rutgers
Honors College,
more students would remain at Rutgers and
strive for
good grades as they completed their career.
Perhaps if Rutgers would lower its
tuition
prices, have helpful financial aid services, administration that would
offer
assistance in any way possible to help keep the student enrolled at Rutgers,
and offer benefits that would lower tuition for students at Rutgers,
with good grades many more students would remain enrolled at
Rutgers-Camden.
References
Camden
County College.
(2007). Tuition and Payment. Retrieved December 6, 2007, from http://www.camdencc.edu/registration/tuition.htm
NJ
Stars. (2007).NJ Stars I. Retrieved December 6, 2007, from http://www.njccc.org/njstars/about.htm
NJ
Stars. (2007). NJ Stars II. Retrieved December 6, 2007, from
http://www.njccc.org/njstars/about2.htm
Rutgers
University. (2007). Rutgers
University Expenses for
2007-2008.
Retrieved December 6, 2007,
from
http://cems.rutgers.edu/admissions/300