This story was produced in collaboration with the Hechinger Report.
It's not uncommon for college students to work to save money for everything from books to spring break vacations. But schools generally don't require students to work—unless they are work colleges.
There are nine federally designated work colleges, in which all residential students are required to work; school leaders track their performance at work just as they do in academic classes. There are evaluations, performance reviews, and, in some cases, grades. Most students come from low-income backgrounds, and the work significantly offsets the cost of their tuition and fees. Schools are typically in rural areas, such as Berea, Kentucky; or Point Lookout, Missouri. But in March of 2017, when Paul Quinn College officially became a work college, it changed the image and perception of what these schools can do and where they can do it.
Paul Quinn College is in Dallas, the ninth-most populous city in the United States; it's the first urban work college and the first historically black work college. Now the college, which has become known for taking unusual paths to success, is beginning a new chapter that will make it even more unusual.
[For more on this story by DELECE SMITH-BARROW, go to https://psmag.com/education/ca...model-for-the-future]
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