Post #20 - Four-years of tuition free at one pioneer school

How is Berea University in Kentucky managing to profit while all other higher education institutes in the nation are suffering huge cut-backs? Making tuition free, that's how.

Indeed, at Berea students don't pay a single dollar to earn a four year degree. Instead, they work 10 or more hours a week at a campus or service job, and make $3.80 per hour doing so. While Berea had to lay off 30 employees, or 5% of their staff, they still remain committed to free education and will not stop this unique public service.

These kind of innovative ideas for higher education are exactly what we need in this country. Instead of relying on public-funding, they run entirely on endowments and donations - an admittedly difficult balance but they've found a way to manage. Stories like these are very inspiring; in a time where the economy is in a recession and business across the world are losing vast portions of their wealth, "thinking outside the box" lead Berea to manage to profit instead of lose money. How many other kinds of business can change their business methods from the conventional to the innovative, and make profit while those around them fail? Berea serves as an example, that by opening our minds we can gain insight. This is a lesson that everyone could stand to learn from.