Reimburse Student Transportation?

[Shady]

Let me preface this post before you read- I'm a financial aid representative for a vocational school in DC. The majority of our students come from low-income/welfare families.

My boss just brought the idea up for reimbursing students for transportation costs associated with getting to/from school. Since we're dealing with a lot of people that come from low income families, he thinks if we offer some kind of transportation $ incentive, it'll increase attendance rates which should increase grades etc etc. But there's a few problems with the idea- 1) being how do we make it equal for everybody so one person doesn't get more than the other- I think that's a legal thing "equal opportunity" all that idk and 2) how do we go about giving them $, some people drive, some take public transportation. So we can't just buy metro cards, and if we were giving cash for the people that drove, how do we know they're spending it on transportation and not something else like starbucks down the street. >.> thoughts?

My immediate thoughts are nobody does this- I'm trying to push flyers with student incentives on them. We had one idea for the first 10 students per graduating class that get jobs in their respective fields (medical + pc aka admin) will get something like a $30 subway gift card per week for the first month of their job. Our tuition more than covers it and with other incentives already out there ala people graduating with 90% attendence and a 3.0 gpa receive a free refurbished PC + student attire provided by some company we're affiliated with.. sounds more than reasonable/enticing. The reasoning behind these schemes is to get the word out and get more students to enroll- word of mouth and all that.

 

[Genkaku]

Let me preface this post before you read- I'm a financial aid representative for a vocational school in DC. The majority of our students come from low-income/welfare families.

My boss just brought the idea up for reimbursing students for transportation costs associated with getting to/from school. Since we're dealing with a lot of people that come from low income families, he thinks if we offer some kind of transportation $ incentive, it'll increase attendance rates which should increase grades etc etc. But there's a few problems with the idea- 1) being how do we make it equal for everybody so one person doesn't get more than the other- I think that's a legal thing "equal opportunity" all that idk and 2) how do we go about giving them $, some people drive, some take public transportation. So we can't just buy metro cards, and if we were giving cash for the people that drove, how do we know they're spending it on transportation and not something else like starbucks down the street. >.> thoughts?

When I went to the recruiting office to apply for the army, I was brought to "Station 2" which was designed to reimburse recruits based on the area they come from. Maybe you could design a system based on where/how they come.

IE: If you drive from Town A you get $10, if you take the bus from Town A you get $5, ect ect. or you could break it down by sections of cities (I dont know how many students come from other areas) with the same kind of pay plans.

Could always have them purchase a gas card (for drivers) and each week give them a fillup of a certain amount. They would have to provide a licence plate / ownership papers and the like.

You dont have to fund their entire commute, but everyone will agree, some is better than none.

(I drove through 2 cities and took the toll highway, and had 9 bucks in parking and they only gave me $15. It didnt cover the trip but I was happy to get SOMETHING)

My 2 cents.

 

[Faule]

I know here in Calgary included in your tuition is a "U-Pass" which is a bus/train pass for the whole semester. They tack a small fee onto your tuition and it's something that the student union sets up each year. The pass is a mandatory fee once per semester. I works really well here as most students don't have cars or at least don't want to pay the $400+ a semester to park on campus. I believe most post-secondary schools here in Alberta use it.

I'd say stick to encouraging public transit. It's more environmental and affordable for everyone. Those that still choose to drive can still drive cause chances are they have enough money to. Or they can at least drive to a place to take public transit the rest of the way.

http://www.ucalgary.ca/UPASS/whatis

 

[Zephayra]

I know here in Calgary included in your tuition is a "U-Pass" which is a bus/train pass for the whole semester. They tack a small fee onto your tuition and it's something that the student union sets up each year. The pass is a mandatory fee once per semester. I works really well here as most students don't have cars or at least don't want to pay the $400+ a semester to park on campus. I believe most post-secondary schools here in Alberta use it.

I'd say stick to encouraging public transit. It's more environmental and affordable for everyone. Those that still choose to drive can still drive cause chances are they have enough money to. Or they can at least drive to a place to take public transit the rest of the way.

http://www.ucalgary.ca/UPASS/whatis

My school did this, but it really pissed me off that as someone who couldn't use the bus system at all, and had to pay $200 per semester to use the parking lot, wasn't allowed to be reimbursed.

My argument was, I chose to live at home, which was about 30 minutes from school. I did this to save money obviously, so I wasn't complaining I had to pay for parking, car repairs, gas or anything involved with my car and parking. But the fact that I had to pay $400 bucks in my auxillary fees for busing really annoyed me.

When I brought it up to the student newspaper, I got people to actually vote on it. However, half way through my last semester, I found out you COULD get reimbursed but they kept it on the down low, so I never got my money back. I paid $1,600 over my four years for nothing. I used the bus a total of 4-5 times during my university career. It pissed me off that I actually brought it up, and then they chose to hid the fact from people, so they could keep the money.

I do believe in public transportation. If I had a choice, I would have taken the bus. Not only would I save on gas, car repairs, insurance, I would not having to worry about my car breaking down while I was trying to get to class, etc. However, I couldn't unless they drove a bus out to the country.

On the original topic - I do think that a transportation reimbursment incentive sounds great.

 

[Mirewen]

When I went to the University of Victoria, students had an extra $100 tacked on to each semester for a year long pass. $200 for me to have public transit for a year was a Godsend as I was paying for my entire tuition by myself (minus Scholarships and Grants). I think it's a fantastic idea. Students have far too much to worry about without having to stress about how they are going to get to school as well as how they are going to pay for it.

 

[Makelith]

how do we know they're spending it on transportation and not something else like starbucks down the street. >.> thoughts?

With things like that, unless they aren't going to class at all, you are still paying for their travel. Because it something that you can't get around paying. If you give them x amount of money, and gas/bus/train costs x amount of money, then they are going to have x amount of money extra to either spend or save.

 

[Morcheeba]

With things like that, unless they aren't going to class at all, you are still paying for their travel. Because it something that you can't get around paying. If you give them x amount of money, and gas/bus/train costs x amount of money, then they are going to have x amount of money extra to either spend or save.

And really, regardless of what they spend it on, you're allocating a certain amount from budget or what have you towards student transportation. If they decide to spend it on coffee or beers.. they're out the upfront funds for transportation... but you have only allowed for the alloted funds.

 

[Kerowynn]

You could offer an incentive after each semester to students with a certain percentage of days attended. For example, all students that have a 90% attendence rate will be reimbursed $150 for travel (or whatever). While some might spend more on travel than others, at least this would give everyone more incentive to attend regularly.

 

[Mirewen]

I'll clarify mine, they added the $100 per semester to your tuition and your student card allowed free transport (magnetic stripe swiping) so they the money was used for transport only.

 

[Shady]

And really, regardless of what they spend it on, you're allocating a certain amount from budget or what have you towards student transportation. If they decide to spend it on coffee or beers.. they're out the upfront funds for transportation... but you have only allowed for the alloted funds.

I hear what you're saying (Makelith too) but that's defeating the purpose. If the money's meant to be spent on transportation to incentivize (sounds good, I'm using it) students to come to class knowing that their bus or metro fees are paid for, and they waste that money on anything other than transportation, then they're still paying out of pocket to get here.. which doesn't help us in trying to increase their attendance because they still have the same excuse at the end of the day, whether they want to admit wasting the $ provided or not.

The ideas are great and I appreciate everyone posting - what do you think of this; we disperse money at the end of the week- for the students that have 90% attendance or higher, we'll allocate say $20 per student (2 metro ride includes a bus transfer if they have to take both so round trip $4 x 5 days = $20). So they're motivated to come to class if they weren't already because that money is waiting for them if they make the effort every day. Idk, just an idea..

 

[Morcheeba]

I hear what you're saying (Makelith too) but that's defeating the purpose. If the money's meant to be spent on transportation to incentivize (sounds good, I'm using it) students to come to class knowing that their bus or metro fees are paid for, and they waste that money on anything other than transportation, then they're still paying out of pocket to get here.. which doesn't help us in trying to increase their attendance because they still have the same excuse at the end of the day, whether they want to admit wasting the $ provided or not.

The ideas are great and I appreciate everyone posting - what do you think of this; we disperse money at the end of the week- for the students that have 90% attendance or higher, we'll allocate say $20 per student (2 metro ride includes a bus transfer if they have to take both so round trip $4 x 5 days = $20). So they're motivated to come to class if they weren't already because that money is waiting for them if they make the effort every day. Idk, just an idea..

Sounds good.

You could also ask that they provide receipts of the $ spent to get to and from school. Then it's up to admin to do the leg work and it becomes a bookkeeping process for expense reports etc.

Basing it on an end-of-week payout pending attendance may create quite the back log of students lined up for their money honey. However, your idea does sound the most efficient :biggrin:

 

[Eilistrae]

I don't really think handing out cash is ideal. I think a gas card/metro card with the amounts allocated on it would be ideal. You could pass those out each week as well, and you know that they'll be spending them on gas and the metro only.

 

[Arianelle]

I think the the amount should be equal across the board - no matter how you get to/from school. Low income would mostly be public transportation anyway, so I would allocate funds equal to the cost of a bus pass just to be fair and prevent people from abusing the incentive. For example, the MTA transportation system allows unlimited use of all their transportation modes (buses, shuttles, and railways) for $64/month. Most education establishments are able to offer these at a discount for all students ($30/month). You may be able to contact your public transportation system directly to work out a deal to receive a bulk amount of passes for a reduced cost to the school. This way, even for those who don't perform at the top of the class, they can still have the option of buying those passes at a reduced cost. For those who do not take public transportation, require that they provide documentation (registration and license) and give them a gas card equal to whatever the normal cost of the bus pass is. Of course, drivers could sell the gas cards for cash, but that's really unlikely for a college student with a car and more along the lines of addict behavior. Obviously the bus pass will be used for more than getting to/from school because it has unlimited use and there's no way to control that as will the gas gift card.

I also like that subway gift card idea for the first month. I think it's a very cool incentive for new graduates. They don't have to worry about lunch at work (which can get really expensive).