Tufts Funding Gap Years

[Anonymous]

So, Tufts is now going to start financing kids so that they can have gap years. As tuitions continue their inexorable rise and become ever more difficult to afford for those who are "too rich" for FA, but not rich enough to not notice these astronomical costs, I feel truly outraged. This is nothing against Tufts per se, probably other private universities doing it also. Realize that they are private, but it just feels as if tuition seems to be less and less connected to an education and more to buildings, fancy cafeterias, huge admin staffs, and now this!

What am I missing?

[Anonymous]

I don't understand what "funding gap year" means.

[Anonymous]

I have a rather vague recollection of my college offering some money to fund a "gap year" in certain years where enrollment of freshmen was oversubscribed for the year. They'd hope maybe up to 10-20 kids would take them up on the offer and then join the following year's entering class taking pressure of the current year's pressure. Space in dorms was finite and there were years where the yield ended up being a handful more students than anticipated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a rather vague recollection of my college offering some money to fund a "gap year" in certain years where enrollment of freshmen was oversubscribed for the year. They'd hope maybe up to 10-20 kids would take them up on the offer and then join the following year's entering class taking pressure of the current year's pressure. Space in dorms was finite and there were years where the yield ended up being a handful more students than anticipated.

Oh really? They just took our money and crammed three of us into a double.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand what "funding gap year" means.

It means paying for a kid ($30K) to have a year off between high school and college. Said kid typically goes abroad to volunteer in some capacity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand what "funding gap year" means.

It means paying for a kid ($30K) to have a year off between high school and college. Said kid typically goes abroad to volunteer in some capacity.

Wow.