Some students are reportedly getting paid to go to school at the Santa Rosa JC. We’re talking more than just a loan or scholarship: These are actual wages being deposited into students’ bank accounts, as if they were working a job, KRCB news radio reports. Where the job is going to class and doing homework. This new experiment at our local JC is part of a $30 million pilot program called “Hire UP” that was just launched by the state in 10 different community college districts, according to KRCB — another way of testing the theory that a period of “guaranteed income” can give a leg up to someone who’s struggling to make ends meet, and allow them to thrive on their own in the future. College officials will reportedly be monitoring “how the money affects students’ outcomes.” KRCB news reporters talked to Leah Richardson, a 37-year-old student at the JC who’s enrolled in the state’s new program. She’s one of hundreds of formerly incarcerated JC students who can now apply to get paid from this $2.6 million pool. From the story: “On a recent morning, she sat at a cafe next to campus, where students hurried by, but she didn’t notice them as she stared at her financial aid statement on her iPhone. ‘I’m a little in shock,’ Richardson said as she used her fingers to zoom in on the web page that showed her current grants. She’ll receive monthly payments of nearly $2,000, starting today. Those payments are calculated based on the state’s minimum wage, $16 an hour, for each of the 30 hours she spends every week on school. When she enrolled at Santa Rosa Junior College in 2021, she couldn’t afford to attend full time. She was still adjusting to a new routine, after spending time in and out of jail and substance use treatment centers. She decided to take classes in the afternoon and work from 4:30 a.m. until about 1:30 p.m. at a Safeway store most days of the week. When she wasn’t working at Safeway, she took shifts at bakeries. ‘I was exhausted — a lot,’ Richardson said. Since then, she’s tried to work less and study more. ‘Now that I have this money, I don’t have the weight of having to go back to a job that’s going to drain me.'” Going forward, if the Hire UP program goes well and state funds keep flowing in, word is the JC might also extend these benefits to more students — including ones who grew up in the foster-care system and ones “receiving CalWorks benefits, the state’s cash aid program for low-income adults with children.” (Source: KRCB)
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