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During difficult economic times, the cost of higher education leaves many students wondering if they can afford to go to college. For those who want to avoid being saddled with huge loans, the U.S. government offers one of the best deals around: Enroll at one of the five service academies tuition-free and receive free room and board. (And you thought the Grand Slam promotion at Denny's was cool.) But if military service isn’t for you, here are eight other schools that offer tuition-free educations:
1. College of the Ozarks
Several schools share the u201CLinebacker Uu201D and u201CQuarterback Uu201D monikers in reference to the NFL talent that their college football programs produce, but the only u201CHard Work Uu201D is located in Point Lookout, Missouri. In 1973, a Wall Street Journal reporter bestowed that title on the College of the Ozarks, where students pay no tuition and work at least 15 hours a week at a campus work station. Jobs are taken seriously at the school of 1,400; students are graded on their work performance in addition to their academics. History: In 1906, Presbyterian missionary James Forsythe helped open the School of the Ozarks to provide a Christian high school education to children in the Ozarks region, which spans parts of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. The school added a two-year junior college 50 years later and completed its transition to a four-year college program in 1965. The school was renamed College of the Ozarks in 1990 and has established itself as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the Midwest.
Notable: College of the Ozarks was No. 4 on the Princeton Review's list of the top 10 Stone-Cold Sober schools in 2008.
Famous Alum: Actress and model April Scott, who played Daisy Duke in the straight-to-DVD prequel of Dukes of Hazzard – Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning. Scott has also appeared in Entourage, as a briefcase-toting model on Deal or No Deal, and on various magazine covers.
How to Spend the Money Saved on Tuition: Silver Dollar City, an amusement park in nearby Branson, Mo., harkens back to simpler times with its 1880s theme. In addition to thrills, roller coasters at the park offer scenic views of the Ozarks.
2. Deep Springs College
Deep Springs is a two-year, all-male liberal arts college located on a cattle ranch and alfalfa farm in the Inyo-White Mountains of California's High Desert. To get an idea of just how isolated the school is, consider the explanation for its policy forbidding smoking in any of the school's buildings or near hay bales: u201CWe're 45 minutes from the nearest emergency services, so a fire could be disastrous.u201D Every student admitted – 10 to 15 per year – receives free tuition, room, and board, and works at least 20 hours a week on the ranch. The manual labor ranges from washing dishes to milking cows. Most students complete their degrees at prestigious four-year schools after leaving Deep Springs.
History: Deep Springs was founded by Lucien Lucius Nunn, a pioneer in electrical engineering who helped design the Ontario Power Plant at Niagara Falls. While working for the Telluride Power Company, which provided power to gold mines, Nunn invited young men to work for him in exchange for an education. The work-study program became known as the Telluride Institute in 1905. Nunn was driven out of the company in 1912 by a powerful stockholder who believed Nunn's unconventional means of attracting workers was detrimental to the business. Nunn decided to start a completely new educational endeavor at Deep Springs, which admitted its first class of 20 in 1917.
Notable: Academics, labor, and self-governance are the three pillars of the Deep Springs experience. Students have a say in what subjects to study, what professors to hire, and even what applicants to admit.
Famous Alum: William T. Vollmann, a novelist and journalist with a propensity for writing about dangerous firsthand experiences, including a trip into Afghanistan with the Mujahideen in 1982. Vollmann has written more than 20 books, including Europe Central, which won the 2005 National Book Award for Fiction.
How to Spend the Money Saved on Tuition: Given that students are generally prohibited from leaving the ranch during the semester, online shopping via the somewhat reliable Internet connection is one of the only viable options.
3. UC-Irvine School of Law, Class of '12
In an effort to attract the best and brightest students for its inaugural class, the UC Irvine School of Law is offering a free ride to all 60 students admitted this fall. Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, a constitutional law scholar, told reporters, u201COur goal is to be a top-20 law school from the first time we are ranked.u201D By early February, the number of applicants at California's first new public law school in 40 years had topped 1,000. The school will rely on grants and donations to cover the estimated $6 million it will cost to put each of the students in the first class through the program.
History: There is some precedent for a professional school offering free tuition to its inaugural class. In 2008, the Central Florida College of Medicine received nearly 3,000 applicants after offering the same deal to each member of its inaugural class.
Notable: Chemerinsky, an adamant defender of the separation of church and state, as well as abortion rights, was hired, fired amid political pressure from conservatives one week later, and then rehired as Irvine's law school dean in 2007.
Famous Alum: You? It's not too late to apply.
How to Spend the Money Saved on Tuition: In-N-Out burgers. Lots and lots of In-N-Out burgers.
May 14, 2009
