FREE COLLEGE TUITION: HARD WORK U
I had the pleasure of visiting a college while on vacation in Missouri, that is truly unique. This college is set apart from most colleges in a very cool and different way. While most colleges require students to pay tuition for their education this college does not.
What college is this and where are they located?
You are probably thinking that this is not possible, but it is actually true. The college I am referring to is called College of the Ozarks located in Point Lookout, Missouri. College of the Ozarks is a private college referred to as Hard Work U. The term Hard Work U, is used because each student that receives this opportunity to go to college 100% free of tuition, also works for their tuition. The students at this college have a unique and awesome opportunity to receive a quality education from a great college completely free of tuition.
This is as you know is not the normal college experience for most colleges throughout the United States. This is however such a great idea in my opinion because these students are taught to work hard and learn many great life lessons while getting a valuable education. Just above are a few pictures of items that are produced by the students at the college. These are just a few of the things they make daily as the students learn to grow their food, cook, bake and create more items than most of us can do. They learn skills of all kinds and help to run both a restaurant and hotel on campus daily.
The picture above shows The Keeter Center which is a restaurant that is completely run by the College of the Ozarks. The students work in both the restaurant and hotel and do an amazing job.
Meeting the staff and students
I had the pleasure upon visiting the college to speak with a wonderful young lady who had nothing but positive things to say about her experience. I asked a few things about this college and she was more than happy to fill me in on details and provide me some materials to share.
How do you get accepted and what is required?
This college is tough to get accepted to because of the high demand for students wanting this same opportunity. I love the idea that students are offered a tuition free education and are being taught great life lessons and taught to work hard. Each student we encountered on our visit had nothing but positive things to share about their experiences and were some of the most polite young people I’ve ever met. The way that the college provides the education to these students free of cost is simple. The school requires the students to work 15 hrs a week and the remaining tuition is covered by scholarships provided to these students through various benefactors. What an incredible opportunity for many students who could not afford an education easily on their own. Yet they are not given the education with no strings attached the best part I believe is the fact that they give of their time, talents and hard work to produce something beautiful everyday.
Why do I believe this is such a great concept?
These students are daily becoming something amazing, young men and women better prepared to enter our society and workforce as adults. They have learned to become valued contributors with both an education and a knowledge of how to work hard as well as the skills to do an amazing job in their future careers. If there is one thing I do believe in it is that hard work is so important and it is a lesson that should be taught to our youth today. I do not believe college tuition should be completely free like some people do, because I believe that everything worthwhile has a cost that must be paid by someone. I am also not one who believes a college education is owed to us by our parents. College of the Ozarks offers what I believe is important for all students today. A tuition that is affordable, and yet costs the students something that they can afford to provide. They pay their tuition in hard work. This will not cripple them and hold them back for good portion of their life, like the high cost of college has done to many of us.
Teaching history and patriotism to their students
Another thing that is taught and encouraged in the students of college of the Ozarks is patriotism, which is evident on campus when you first enter. There are memorials set up for veterans of foreign wars and also for the 9/11 terror attacks, to honor those who have died for our freedom.
