There’s a fascinating story of a recent alumnus who is suing her college because she hasn’t found a job after three months of hunting (in this recession and terrible job environment). In Alumna sues college because she hasn’t found a job, CNN details how Trina Thompson, a student with a 2.7 GPA, is suing New York’s Monroe College for $72,000 because “they have not tried hard enough to help me.”

She suggested that Monroe’s Office of Career Advancement shows preferential treatment to students with excellent grades. “They favor more toward students that got a 4.0. They help them more out with the job placement,” she said. iReport.com: “Don’t sue your alma mater”

Asked whether she would advise other college graduates facing job woes to sue their alma maters, Thompson said yes. “It doesn’t make any sense: They went to school for four years, and then they come out working at McDonald’s and Payless. That’s not what they planned.”

It probably doesn’t help that she got poor marks in an undergraduate degree in Business Administration, a degree like an MBA but without the years of work experience that usually precede it. Reviews for the college, which we’ve never heard of, are appalling:

• “As long as you can walk into the building and could sign a loan, receive financial aid, or pay up front they will accept you.”
• “… all they talk about in the hallways, bathroom, and even class is they BABY DADDY DRAMA.”
• “Monroe College is a mediocre school. Very similar to community college.”

The institution is a private, for-profit, college with 4,361 full-time students, 71% female, charging on average $9,000 / yr tuition. The school has a statistically skewed diversity profile, with 52% Hispanic, 42% African-American, 1% Asian, and 1% Caucasian. The graduation rate is 54%, and the acceptance rate a startling 61%. There’s no listing of the average SAT score of incoming freshmen (a bad sign), and a warning that “Monroe understands that for many students the SAT may not be a good indication of a student’s academic aptitude” is another red flag. We can interpolate from their minimum requirements for a presidential scholarship of an 1800 on the SAT (about the 80th percentile) that few of their students are objective academic achievers.

In a recession where qualified, experienced workers are being laid off, it takes a massive ego and sense of millennial over-entitlement to give up your job hunt after just three months and blame the college for your poor GPA and lack of marketable skills.

2 Responses to “No job? Sue your University!”

1. 29832 says:

   10/6/2009 at 9:33 pm

   “in a recession where qualified, experienced workers are being laid off, it takes a massive ego and sense of millennial over-entitlement to give up your job hunt after just three months and blame the college for your poor GPA and lack of marketable skills.”

   The point is not that she has got poor GPA, or that her college is mediocre, but the student was discriminated against due to her grade, wouldn’t a poor performing students more urgently need help than those ones with better grades?

   “massive ego and sense of millennial over-entitlement to give up your job hunt after just three months and blame the college for your poor GPA and lack of marketable skills.”

   Yes, the student has “massive ego” and “over-entitlement”… for equality in treatment. How is that so objectionable?

   Reply
   • Cornell's Most Infamous says:

     10/10/2009 at 11:57 pm

     By your argument, it’s unfair to discriminate against people who can’t make hamburgers at burger king when hiring. After all, aren’t they people who most need to learn how to make hamburgers?

     Sorry to break your illusory egg, but businesses attempt to hire those best for the job opening. I would imagine that a college career center would use GPA as a leading indicator to justify where they devote their resources.

     Reply