Dustin Bell talks about machining<\/p>\n
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The blinding flame comes screaming out of Claire Simmons’ welding torch, stitching two metal joints together in surgical precision.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It\u2019s an 150-AMP welder\u2019s MIG-Gun, wired to a 350-Watt generator, out of which fires a 6,500-degree flame \u2013 a blue beam three times as hot as lava.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And with it, Simmons believes she can forge her future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Simmons dropped out of high school in her senior year. At 22, she enrolled at Brightpoint Community College<\/a><\/span>. Today, she\u2019s six months away from graduating and beginning a career where pay typically begins at $20 an hour and can easily triple over the course of a career.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n Collin Miller practices on his station on Thursday, January 26, 2023 at Brightpoint Community College in Chester, Virginia.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Across the room, her instructor, Christopher Poisant, makes $150 per hour on contract jobs of this kind.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019m ever going to regret learning to weld,\u201d Simmons said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Transformation. That\u2019s the bet, and the promise, being made by Virginia\u2019s Community College System<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The system, the only one in the state to negotiate for funds as a collective, is keenly aware that legislators in Richmond are wary to splash cash on higher education.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n So VCCS has pitched itself as different, offering legislators the opportunity to fund fast turnaround programs that will fill the gaps in the Virginia workforce.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Christopher Poisant demonstrates how to weld for the class on Thursday, January 26, 2023 at Brightpoint Community College in Chester, Virginia.<\/p>\n <\/span> In Virginia, each school requests funds individually. Lobbyists for each university make requests for funds each year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Virginia\u2019s community colleges, a network of 23 schools, are unique in how they make one single request, or as VCCS Interim Chancellor Sharon Morrissey<\/a>\u00a0calls it, \u201cspeaking with one voice.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n This year, that voice is requesting money for program called HIRE Virginia<\/a><\/span>. It asks for $250 million from the legislature over a period of three years, a sum several times the size of the system\u2019s usual allotment. If lawmakers go for the plan, HIRE promises to return the favor by filling 75,000 job openings across the state.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cStrictly pay for performance programs, so the state only buys results,\u201d said Craig Herndon, who is a liaison for the system and a vice chancellor with VCCS. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing strong interest from our legislators and governor\u2019s office in that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It’s a promise to Virginians, too. Graduates of a previous program known as Fast-Forward left community college programs with as much as a 50% salary increase, Morrissey said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n A student works on his weld on Thursday, January 26, 2023 at Brightpoint Community College in Chester, Virginia.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Another program, known as G3, is what helps to pay for Claire Simmons’ seat at the welding bench.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a great return on investment. They\u2019re able to get good jobs, get better jobs and become bigger taxpayers,\u201d said Jim Babb, a spokesperson for the college system. \u201cWhen you generate a workforce that makes money, you\u2019re helping the state.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The request, which is a budgetary amendment, will land on a legislature wary of opening its checkbook for institutes of higher education, even as Virginia schools struggle with inflation and students increasingly take on more debt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n This session, lawmakers introduced bills designed to bring accountability to Virginia universities, which they say are largely unaccountable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n One bill introduced this month would task JLARC, the state\u2019s main auditing body, to pull detailed accountings of how each spends every dollar, singling out salary and incentive programs for lobbyists and teachers employed by the schools.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n Collin Miller practices on his station on Thursday, January 26, 2023 at Brightpoint Community College in Chester, Virginia.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n But even with a mistrustful legislature, four-year universities still get far more than the community college system.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The state paid $9,236 per student at four-year colleges. Using the same calculation, community colleges got $5,355, more than 40% less per student.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n VCCS says its per-student funding is in the bottom third of community college systems nationwide.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThere is an inequity there,\u201d Morrissey said. \u201cAnd we are keenly aware that Virginia community colleges are funded less than comparable institutions in other states.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The bet may pay off. Virginia has a huge demand for \u201cmiddle-skill\u201d jobs. Those include industrial gigs like welding, but also jobs in health care, a sector currently in dire need of workers. The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association has as many as 11,000 unfilled job postings at hospitals across the state.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In 2021, state last-dollar funding from VCCS graduated around 5,200 students in health care-related programs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe have companies coming in every day, and we literally do not have the students,\u201d said Dustin Bell, program head of Brightpoint\u2019s machining department.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
Bell\u2019s students build robotic parts for complex industrial machinery. \u201cMachining\u201d as it\u2019s called, is a hidden trade, and more and more in demand as companies rely on assembly lines.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Only a few months into the program, most of Bell\u2019s are already working part time. They serve apprenticeships with Virginia companies like Amsted Rail, Philip Morris and Jewett Machine Manufacturing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In the legislature, one of HIRE Virginia\u2019s advocates is Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Augusta. From nurses to truck drivers, Hanger says employers are hurting in areas where VCCS can deliver.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n William Parker work on his machining station on Thursday, January 26, 2023 at Brightpoint Community College in Chester, Virginia.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n He thinks Morrissey\u2019s pitch will be well-received.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThere will be significant support,\u201d Hanger said. \u201cIf you look at things now, we\u2019re very deficient in having these skill sets that are in high demand.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But it isn\u2019t a hard-and-fast promise. Several committees will discuss the budgetary proposal this coming week. Hanger estimates that by Friday, the picture will be clearer, including if VCCS may yet benefit from cuts to the governor\u2019s budget made in the state Senate, which has left the House of Delegates with some excess cash.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWhether we\u2019ll appropriate them has yet to be determined,\u201d Hanger said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Colleges where graduates have the most student debt<\/h3>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In August 2022, President Biden announced his plan for student loan forgiveness, garnering elation from many borrowers and criticism from those who felt the measure did not go far enough<\/a> to alleviate the financial burden. However, the plan’s rollout did not go smoothly. As millions of borrowers’ applications flooded in\u2014and the student loan debt crisis surpassed $1.74 trillion<\/a>\u2014student loan forgiveness is projected to hit a snag\u2014or several.<\/p>\n Several court cases have continued to stall<\/a> forgiveness efforts, tying up the execution of debt cancellation in legal purgatory. The sheer volume of applications has also created a backlog<\/a> of roughly 2 million candidates, resulting in wait times exceeding three months. Further delaying the loan forgiveness process for many applicants are ongoing proceedings in a $6 billion settlement against a group of colleges, many of which are private for-profit institutions accused of defrauding students and other misconduct. Several colleges named in the settlement have appealed the decision<\/a>.<\/p>\n As college enrollment continues to decline<\/a> due to various factors\u2014lack of affordability, fear of taking on debt, and doubts about the value of a degree, among others\u2014making an informed decision about which college to attend has taken on an even greater sense of urgency. Stacker<\/a> ranked the 35 colleges with the highest median debt after graduation, using\u00a0Department of Education<\/a> data on more than 5,200 U.S. colleges for the 2020-21 school year.<\/p>\n This analysis only includes loans accumulated while at the school awarding the graduation credentials\u2014it doesn’t include private loans, parent loans, or loans originated at other schools for transfer students. Average annual costs, compiled by the DOE, include tuition, housing, materials, and fees, minus the average grants and scholarships awarded. They are listed, along with estimated enrollment, but don’t factor into the ranking.<\/p>\n Many schools on the list are private for-profit schools, which have long been embroiled in accusations of predatory lending behavior<\/a>. Religious schools and art and design institutions are also frequent additions. Only one school on the list is a public university.<\/p>\n Read on to find out where college graduates accrue the most student debt.<\/p>\n \u200b\u200bYou may also like:<\/strong> Most liberal colleges in America<\/a><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n – Median student debt at graduation: $31,250<\/p>\n – Average annual cost: $19,105<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n – Median student debt at graduation: $31,250<\/p>\n – Average annual cost: $25,714<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n – Median student debt at graduation: $31,417<\/p>\n – Average annual cost: $17,618<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n
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Colleges where graduates have the most student debt<\/h3>\n
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