What if all that stood between you and your ability to continue a college education from one semester to the next was a few hundred dollars?

It may not seem significant, but that is exactly the financial conundrum many students find themselves in when they either don’t qualify for federal or state grant funding or when that funding is not quite enough to close the gap, according to Dr. Brad Patterson, interim vice provost and dean of students at UALR.

Add in the fact that even if a student scrapes together enough to cover basic educational costs, there are other concerns, such as books or basic living expenses to consider.

The unintended consequence is the student often simply chooses not to re-enroll from one semester to the next, Patterson said.

“We have students here who have found ways to cover most of the cost of their education, but they may be just a bit short of meeting it fully,” he said.

“Sometimes it is just a matter of a few hundred dollars, sometimes it is a little more than that, but any seemingly negligible amount can make a huge difference in whether a student chooses to return to school for another semester,” Patterson added.

Addressing this issue has led Patterson and a small committee to create a new program, UALRWorks, which seeks to bridge the gap in college costs for students of all financial backgrounds by employing them in on-campus jobs.

In exchange, the student agrees to use the money earned to pay toward their total balance due. The amount of money ranges from a low of $200 up to $2,500 or so.

The pilot program began last fall. Students make minimum wage and work an average 20 hours a week for departments across campus who need student labor.

Funding for the program comes from different sources, said Patterson.

“Our goal is to increase retention and limit student debt,” he said. “The university is concerned with student success. When we offer employment for students who are in financial distress, they are more likely to stay in school.”

Alex Norman of Fort Smith is an early beneficiary of the new program. Norman, who was completing some post-baccalaureate requirements before starting graduate school, was about a couple thousand dollars short of being able to meet all his educational expenses.

Having exhausted all possible solutions to the problem, Norman reached “drop day”–the final day to either pay the balance due or be dropped from courses–in desperation.

“It wasn’t a huge amount, but I needed a little help… UALRWorks is a blessing for a lot of people,” he said.

“(This program) is the whole reason I’m in graduate school right now.”

Today, Norman dreams of becoming a college basketball coach; he splits his time working for the Department of Athletics and the College of Education and Social Sciences.

“My whole first three years, when I was getting my undergraduate degree, I wasn’t really a campus kind of guy,” he said. “It isn’t my personality, but this program has made such a difference that I knew I needed to let other students know about it.”

According to Patterson, more than 100 students are participating in the program this semester, which has a direct impact on enrollment and retention numbers.

Patterson and other members of the committee, which includes Cassandra Ward, LoNell Turner, Haley Walker, and Amber Smith, recently returned from a Missouri school that requires every student to work in exchange for tuition in order to avoid debt.

Patterson hopes to put some of the solutions he saw at work there in place for UALR as the new program is further developed.

“We expect and hope that the program will be even bigger in the fall,” he said, adding that another goal of the committee members is to eventually make the program a focus of external fundraising efforts.

“Our greatest desire is that the program become a differentiator that makes UALR a destination institution,” Patterson said.