The Stampede

Most Milligan students plan to cope with the recent tuition increase by picking up more hours at work, taking out more loans or remaining a part-time student.  Few students are not changing anything at all.

Freshman Cara Beth Quisenberry, a full-time commuter from Unicoi, works hard to continue attending Milligan.

“I’m working three jobs this summer because of the raise (in tuition), in order to come back,” said Quisenberry, who has academic, art and Institute of Servant Leadership scholarships. Academic scholarships range from $3,500 to $10,000 annually, art scholarships vary and ISL scholarships are $2,000 annually. Quisenberry also works a 10-hour work-study. Students can earn from $920 to $1,840 depending on how many hours they work per year.

Quisenberry majors in photography and humanities. She looks forward to living on campus next semester as a resident assistant. Resident assistants are compensated for the cost of room and board. Quisenberry said she chose to live at home this year because of the cost of tuition.

“Education seems a little more important than the money,” Quisenberry said.

Junior Parasmani Pageni is a full-time international student from Nepal.

“International students, like me, especially from the third world countries are severely affected,” Pageni said. “For us, college tuition plays an indispensable role when we pick a college to pursue our further studies.” 

Pageni receives athletic scholarships from Milligan annually. These scholarships typically do not increase from year to year.

“Increase in tuition widens the gap between the scholarship we get and college tuition, which compels us to pay more money each year,” Pageni said.

Senior Ben Foote from Plano, Texas, has one more semester before he graduates and begins to pay off loans totaling between $30,000 and $40,000. Foote has a 10-hour work-study and plans to work more during the summer to help with tuition.

Senior Wegene Degefa is a student from Ethiopia with American citizenship; therefore, he is able to take out loans from American banks.

“Every time tuition goes up, I have to take out more loans,” Degefa said.

As a track and cross-country runner, he has an athletic scholarship, but Degefa said that the increase was never enough to make him want to change schools.  He also added, “with one semester left, transferring now would be pointless.”

Junior Joel Cowan transferred from Appalachian State University last fall. Originally from Trinidad, Cowan is one of 16 international students at Milligan. He has an athletic scholarship for soccer, but will still be affected by the tuition increase.

“It will be tough,” Cowan said. “But I’ll be back.”

Graduate student Marissa Henry is one of Milligan’s 79 part-time students. She is a non-traditional student working among 33 other graduate students seeking a master’s degree in education.

“I’m avoiding loans at any cost, which means I’ll probably take longer to graduate,” Henry said. She hopes to graduate in August 2011.

Henry works a full-time job that she will have to quit if she becomes a full-time student next summer.

“I can’t afford to do anything right now,” Henry said. She has taken one to two classes the last few semesters because of the cost of tuition.

When she graduates with a degree in education, Henry said she hopes to get a Tennessee state teacher’s grant of $4,500 a year for every year she teaches in public school.

Other students are not as dramatically affected by the tuition increase.

Full-time nursing student, junior Lianna Etcheson has academic, nursing, private and church scholarships. Her academic scholarship is for $4,000 annually, her nursing scholarships range from $750 to $3,000 annually and her private scholarships total about $1,500 annually.

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