When Sh*t Gets Real, or, the Need for a Lower-Cost Higher Education

There comes a moment in everyone's life where you realize how real things are. Growing up in your parents house, living in the safe physical and financial confines of home and college, and being able to live within your hopes and dreams are luxuries that eventually run out. Life hits, shit gets real, and we end up stumbling through a life that we used to have time to sit around the coffeeshop and figure out.

I am a career counselor at a state school in Washington (UW Tacoma) where the students are coming from modest economic means and trying to make a better life for themselves or their families. Students come in to my office wondering what to do with their interdisciplinary arts and science degree and no real experience. I want to tell them "nothing, good luck" because someone should have encouraged them to take some practical steps towards their career a long time ago.

That's not me, though. That's not my job. and I don't mean my job as a career counselor. I mean my job as God has sent me to help these students and give them hope. So, no matter how frustrating it is to sit with these clueless students and wonder who did them the disservice of not telling them anything along the way, I start to come up with a practical plan. "It's going to be hard" is something I might say. "The more you are willing to sacrifice your time and income now, the better off you'll be in the long-run." They walk away with hope, thankful that someone at a college is ready to advocate for their best interests.

I looked at my budget today and realized that I've paid far too much for my college education. (Word to the wise, don't get a liberal arts degree) The Saxifrage School is running a breakout session at the Jubilee Conference today, which has made me so excited about the need for low-cost, practical higher education. Excited that a cure may start to bloom. Excited that there are people starting a school with the intention of giving students a real, practical education and real, practical life experience along the way for a price tag that's worth paying.

I could say a lot more, but maybe y'all should just watch the video below and think for yourselves instead of letting me tell you what to think. After all, that was the original purpose of higher education, was it not?


The Saxifrage Idea from Saxifrage School on Vimeo.

The Saxifrage School

The Saxifrage School was featured in the Sunday edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on June 5, 2011.  You can read the article here.

Basically, the Saxifrage School is the brainchild of a friend of mine, Tim Cook, who I met at Banjo Night at the Elks Club on the North Side in the summer of 2010. After telling Tim that I was studying Higher Education Management, he told me his idea for a stripped-down, bare essentials college that would be committed to developing a student's real-life skills.  Being a very recent student myself, this struck me as a project that I wanted to contribute to, so I have been serving on the initial planning team since February.

As Tim has learned, along with the rest of us, starting a college is not simple, but our fearless leader has committed himself in a way that is inspirational.  We don't need to be encouraged to power through to make the project possible; it is already beyond possible.  This school will happen, it's just a matter of making sure this project is the strongest project we can create.

As the PG article describes, students will learn things like how to grow their own food or do house construction while reading literature, mastering Spanish, and living in community with a neighborhood of Pittsburgh.  Here's the basic idea: a valuable, low-cost college education.  As described on the School's homepage, the goal is to have dual-majors in an "academic" and a "technical" field and Spanish fluency for 400 students.  (Read more ideas about academics here)  The School plans to have 40 instructors whose salaries will be paid by a vast majority of the incoming tuition dollars.  The Saxifrage School will operate with a nomadic campus with one or two administrative buildings while hosting classes in underutilized community spaces such as churches and bars.  Students will rent living space in the community and work part-time jobs alongside their neighbors. The frills of student affairs will be cut down (or completely) as needed.  This conservation of resources will result in an education-and-community based model that will cost students only $5000 in tuition.

Academically, the dual-majors will be a combination of two fields; one academic and one technical.  The academic field choices are World Literature and Writing, International Systems, and Religion and Philosophy while the technical fields are Organic Agriculture, Computer Science, and Building Design and Construction.  Students will have the opportunity to expand their intellectual horizons while learning practical skills that can be applied every day at home and the workplace.

The uphill battle is still ahead.  Four teams have been developed to focus on the academics, fundraising, logistics, and community for the School.  Between now and the anticipated opening in 2014, the Saxifrage School will choose a community in which to start, develop relationships with their neighbors, recruit instructors and students, develop academic programs, and raise a couple million dollars, among other items on the check-list.

A buzz is developing in the city of Pittsburgh, though, with special thanks to the Mattress Factory who has provided a complimentary headquarters for the Saxifrage School to use through at least mid-June in the old Firewaters location across from PNC Park.  The General Will, as it's now called, has hosted a couple concerts combined with community conversations, a pair of shantyboating classes (the second of which is this Thursday), and will host an open IPO (Initial Public Offering) Party that is FREE to the public and scheduled for this Sunday, June 12 at 7pm.  For more information on this party, check the Facebook event here.

This is the project in a nutshell.  It's an exciting project being discussed by a group of young people who care about the future of education and Pittsburgh.  Who knows how long I will be able to continue being a part of this project in Pittsburgh, but I'm thankful to have been here at the beginning and hope to contribute in any way I can, wherever I end up!

You can also read more about the Saxifrage School at our website.

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