By Dan May
Rotary Club of Orange
Dan May
The Rotary Club of Orange recognized and presented cash awards on June 21 to three graduating seniors from Amity Regional High School who reside in Orange: Danielle D’Avignon, Alexander Kallmeyer and Caroline Tirollo. The recipients were selected from a pool of applicants based on a combination of academic achievements, extracurricular activities and/or athletics, and notably, community or school service and leadership.
All three are heading to colleges this fall in Rhode Island. D’Avignon is going to Providence College, Kallmeyer to Johnson and Wales, and Tirollo to the University of Rhode Island. The awards are modest – only $2,000 – and are only provided once. The amount is modest compared to the total cost of a degree at a private college or out-of-state public university.
The National Center for Education Statistics tracks all the direct and indirect costs to obtain four-year bachelor’s degrees across all institutional types and locales. In 2023-2024 the average annual US cost of attendance (tuition, fees, room and board) for four-year schools ranged from approximately $24,000 at in-state publics to $42,000 at out-of-state-publics to $60,000 at private nonprofits.
Most media attention focuses on these listed costs for residential students. But when all expenses are factored in – for off-campus or summer housing and food, clothing, transportation, insurance, books and data/telecom services, entertainment, as well as lost income/benefits when not working full time – the combined direct and indirect costs approach $100,000 per year when averaged across all school types. And since the average time to complete a degree is closer to five instead of four years, you are not far off in currently describing a college degree as a half-million-dollar commitment.
It is understandable then that US headlines are increasingly asking “Is college worth it?” Rotary thinks it is, and most clubs across the US provide one-time or recurring awards to some who are college- or trade-school bound to help make that case, even if nominally. All clubs wish they could provide more funding, and to more students, and many clubs devote the majority of their fundraising to youth services. But an important goal of the awards is also to make the case for and to publicize the need for a commitment to community service and positive leadership. Both are Rotary goals and fostering that commitment into young adulthood is a hopeful intent behind the recognitions.
Rotary International sponsors a number of initiatives for all age groups, and for both members and non-members. Collectively these initiatives can be described as promoting servant leadership. This a leadership philosophy that focuses on serving others rather than the leader’s own needs or even that of the organization’s. More generally, the focus is on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong.
College degrees in the US have increasingly come to be seen as a private good, with most costs borne individually. This was not always the case, nor is the case even today around the world.
My first university teaching job was at Victoria University in New Zealand in the 1980s. I was a newly minted PhD from US schools and thrilled to land a job at this high-caliber school. VUW had very competitive admissions standards and world-class research facilities. A few things shocked me, though. There were no dorms or athletic teams, and extracurricular clubs and activities were limited. But at that time, New Zealand citizens paid no tuition or fees. And nearly all students received a monthly stipend for food, housing and other expenses. The country collectively considered it a national investment in economic and social development. I do not know if this is still the practice in New Zealand, but it still can be found in other countries.
Today in the US some federal aid is available to low income families and students, but it has not kept up with inflation and more has been deferred into personal loans. More substantial subsidies for higher education at a national level are primarily a benefit for ROTC students or active/reserve and veteran military members, with benefits (including living expenses) often tied to prior or future length of service. The US support of education opportunities for those men and women who serve in the military is viewed as a model around the world.
Many other community service organizations like Rotary, and other public service non-governmental organizations, provide recognitions and awards and scholarships to undergraduates who possess an inclination toward servant leadership. Most would be in accord with promoting Rotary’s motto of “Service Above Self.” In an era of increasing polarization and self-interest, promotion of such an ideal is likely even more important.
Dan May is the immediate past president of the Rotary Club of Orange.