Three-year option valuable in tough economic times

TO THE EDITOR:

 The Daily Tar Heel editorial board needs to step down from its elitist pedestal and join the rest of us in the real world.

In case you hadn’t noticed, we are in a severe economic recession. Scholarship availability and federal funding has shrunk. While $8,000 may not sound like that much to the editorial board (“Slow and Steady,” Feb. 25) it could mean the difference between graduating college and delaying it indefinitely for many qualified and earnest students who don’t happen to have trust funds.

Rather than becoming a “mass-production facility,” the program offered by the University of North Carolina at Greensboro makes college more open to people who would otherwise not have access to what you call a “quality college education.”

Some students go to college to grow and mature into a flourishing person. Others go because they know that a degree will make them more competitive once they leave college and enter the workforce. Both reasons deserve respect.

For those students who are paying their way through college, or who have families to support or who are so dedicated and eager to start their career that they are willing to sacrifice a fourth year, the “UNCG in 3” program is an outstanding option.



Meredith Gellman
Senior
History