Tuition increase, lack of class options prompt some Aggies to pursue academic goals elsewhere

By Chris Calvert

December 10, 2004 | For some Cache Valley residents, the university isn't their best option at pursuing their academic goals.

Samantha Greenhalgh, of Nibley, could have gone to almost any university she wanted. She graduated from Box Elder High School in 2001 with a 3.98 GPA as well as a score of 32 on her ACT.

While many would imagine a person of this academic caliber spending the next four to six years at a university pursuing a bachelor's, master's, or even a doctoral degree, Greenhalgh's lifelong plan to become a pharmacist has her currently attending Bridgerland Applied Technology College.

After a year and a half at Utah State University she had completed most of the requirements to apply for pharmacy school, but still lacked a pharmacy technician's license. Since USU doesn't offer that program, the road to her academic goal lead her elsewhere.

Greenhalgh is not alone. Many former USU students have had to leave the university to pursue their goals and dreams at other campuses. In fact, according to the USU admissions office enrollment at USU has dropped 2 percent from fall semester 2003 to fall semester 2004. However, the BATC registrars' office says their enrollment numbers have increased during the same period.

Greenhalgh said she thinks the higher tuition and continued tuition increases at USU could play a key role in the decision of many students whether or not they should continue their higher education at USU or to transfer to another institution.

"USU can't offer students some things that Bridgerland can offer." Greenhalgh said. "There are 11 people in my class, we have hands on training of the material we're learning, and a much more relaxed atmosphere than at the university."

Greenhalgh said she thinks the instructors make the atmosphere relaxed. She said the quality of the education she receives from the instructors lags behind that of the USU professors, but the BATC instructors (who are not required to have any university degrees) seem to care more about the individual students in their classes.
"I have all three of my instructor's cell phone numbers. I don't have to make an appointment to see them during their office hours, and they all know my name," said Greenhalgh.

She said the large class sizes at USU normally don't allow for the same type of student-teacher relationship available to BATC students. She said she gets a lot of one-on-one help if she doesn't understand a topic, something she says isn't readily available at USU.

David Bender, of Logan, also attends BATC. He said the main reason he is at BATC instead of USU is, for his computer aided drafting class he is able to learn and work at his own pace.

"People learn at differently. That's OK because everyone is different. If it takes me two or three days to pick up on an idea that others may understand easily, I haven't fallen behind the class because the students each work at their own pace."

He said as long as he completes the required in-class hours and finishes his assignments he gets his certificate and passes his class. He said this ability to come and go to his class as he needs is great, especially because his wife is due with their first child in two weeks.

As well as the relaxed atmosphere at BATC, another reason that attracted Greenhalgh was the low cost for the class. Greenhalgh said she spent $650 for the entire course. She said her course would be roughly the equivalent of two three-credit USU classes. Six credits at USU would cost a resident more than $900 and a non-resident would pay more than $2500. Greenhalgh said it is much more cost effective for her to go to BATC.

As USU raises tuitions costs to cover their rising expenses, fewer enrolled students mean the university looses money. As a result of that lost revenue, the university has to make cutbacks and some of those cutbacks come in the form of dropping entire programs.

When programs are cut the students and potential students interested in the field that has been cut are forced to seek out other institutions to formally teach and train them in their desired field. One such instance is the welding degree formerly offered at USU. The welding degree was cut during the 2002-03 academic year and now welding students must attend courses at BATC.

Not carrying desired programs isn't the only reason students may be leaving universities to attend trade schools such as BATC.

"The practical experience, having class three nights a week, but especially having three different teachers who each have their own unique points of view is the biggest benefit of attending Bridgerland," Greenhalgh said.
She said another benefit is they do a lot of review in their class. She described a typical class as reviewing the material from the previous class, receiving new instruction, and ending the class with a quick review of the instruction they received that day.

However, Greenhalgh also said she recognizes there are major drawbacks to attending a trade school rather than a "traditional" university. She said the biggest was a lack of respect for people who decide a trade school is their best option.

"Most people think it is better to go to a university than to Bridgerland," said Greenhalgh. "I think some people look down on me for going to Bridgerland rather than to USU, but I don't care. The licensing board doesn't care where you got your education, and a license is a license no matter where you had to go to get it."

She said she feels confident the training and information she is receiving in her pharmacy technician class will prepare her for her future as a pharmacy technician. She is currently doing an internship, which is required with this particular class, with a local pharmacy. She said she is applying the things she learns during class and gets practical experience from the internship, not just "hands on" learning from class labs.

She said she also feels prepared because the computer programs she is learning to use during her class are very similar to the one she sees in the pharmacy during her internship. In fact, she said the class contains a more in-depth look into the world of a pharmacy technician.

"You don't have as much to cover in a semester for Bridgerland classes as you do with USU classes," said Greenhalgh. "At USU I had to learn things like anatomy, and chemistry, and we had to get from chapters X to X so we kind of skimmed over the top of everything in order to learn everything we needed to. But here I learn how things like chemistry and anatomy interrelate and how one affects the other."

Greenhalgh said, "Bridgerland is a good school. They offer good classes and have great benefits that USU doesn't. I don't think anyone should be ashamed that they are taking a class there. Some people don't learn well out of textbooks, some are visual learners, and sometimes people can't go to USU because USU doesn't offer the program they want to take."

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