FSCJ'S new bachelor's program came with unexpected cost for some students

http://members.jacksonville.com/news/metro/2014-11-03/story/fscjs-new-bachelors-program-came-unexpected-cost-some-students

Some students still await financial-aid OK

Florida State College at Jacksonville recently launched three new bachelor’s degree programs — Logistics, Financial Services and Human Services — that attracted dozens of new students.

The programs have been approved by state and national accrediting agencies.

But they’re still not approved by the federal government for its financial aid system. That means, nine weeks into the first semester, some students taking the courses don’t know if the federal government is going to help them pay for tuition, books or other expenses.

Derrick Schwab, a student and part-time cook, borrowed $3,000 from his credit union for tuition and books this semester, adding to the $8,000 he already owes in school loans.

“To know I’m eligible for financial aid and still having to pay out of pocket, that’s the worst part,” he said. “This money shouldn’t have to come out of my money ... I should be getting another answer other than, ‘We’re waiting on the government.’”

The delay surprised FSCJ officials, who said last week they are working to help the few students who can’t afford the first semester’s tuition and books by directing them toward scholarships. Most students in the program, they said, are unaffected because they or their employers pay for the classes.

The federal delay is the only wrinkle in an otherwise smooth academic roll-out, said Jerry Collins, FSCJ’s associate vice president of educational programs. Each of FSCJ’s new bachelor’s programs attracted 80 to 100 applicants for the first semester, he said.

“Academically I think we’re dead on target,” Collins said. “We’re doing the right thing for the right reasons to serve our community. We’re making sure we have the right curriculum in place, and we’re preparing students the best we can possibly prepare them. And we are closely working with business and industry with our advisory councils.

“The only glitch right now is getting through this financial aid” issue.

Collins said the college has gone through the process with its other degree programs and never had this happen. In this case, FSCJ applied for federal approve in July; it usually takes 30 to 60 days, he said.

If he’d known it would take longer, Collins said he would have waited to start the program.

Steven Guinn, a Logistics student who paid $1,000 for books this fall, said the college is asking students now to begin signing up for classes for the spring semester, which starts in January, but he’s not sure he should risk it.

“We depend on financial aid; now we’re stuck in limbo,” Guinn said. “How will we pay for classes?”

OPPORTUNITY AWAITS
Logistics is an important program of study for Northeast Florida and nationwide. Many more jobs are available in the field than graduates to fill them.

Logistics can include a variety of industries and segments of the economy, such as transportation, ports, warehouses, distribution systems, supply chain networks, and various technologies.

FSCJ’s new bachelor’s program concentrates on warehouse and supply chains, while the University of North Florida’s larger and older logistics program concentrates on transportation and the port.

UNF’s program, with nearly 300 students, is expanding, and the university is exploring creating a masters degree in logistics, said Robert Frankel, chair of the program. Florida Gateway College in Lake City and the University of West Florida also are launching or planning logistics programs, he added.

UNF’s Logistics major “is going to produce somebody with strong quantitative skills, who is very analytical,” Frankel said. “They’re going into middle- to upper-level managerial positions that require skill sets that are much more strategic than operational.”

Frankel said 85 percent of UNF’s graduates have landed jobs in the field within a year of graduating, most earning $45,000 to $55,000 annually.

“It’s a very fast-growing and attractive field,” he said.

Collins said he expected to start FSCJ’s program with 25 to 50 students, but 80 were accepted. Twelve ended up not taking it; some of them because of the financial aid snafu, he said.

It’s not clear what is causing the delay.

Collins said he thinks it has something to do with an overloaded workforce in the U.S. Department of Education’s Atlanta office.

All the education department offices have been flooded with applications for new academic programs, he said, because federal officials are cracking down on “fly-by-night” colleges tricking students into borrowing too much money to study careers that will pay too little.

But federal education officials, through a spokeswoman, denied any backlog even as they avoided being specific about the reasons for the delay.

“While FSCJ submitted their application as required this past summer, the application needed further information and clarification from school staff,” the spokeswoman said. The department’s “School Participation Division has contacted FSCJ personnel about the issues and looks forward to working toward a resolution.”

Schwab sees irony in a logistics program getting bogged down in government red tape.

“You’d think their paperwork would have been sent in in a timely manner,” Schwab joked. “They teach us that in class.”

Denise Amos: (904) 359-4083