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Pacific Lutheran University is now offering what it’s calling a plus year, which is a year of education tuition-free for current students.

Allan Belton, President, joined Seattle鈥檚 Morning News to discuss what prompted the program and how it works.

鈥淟ike most universities, we put together a recovery team, and we’re spending hours every day planning for how students might return in person learning at some point. And in all of that conversation, it became really apparent that this experience this year for students is not going to be what they imagined,鈥� Belton said. 鈥淎nd that was where plus year came from. It was the opportunity for them to have the full four year experience if you discount the COVID year, as we call it.鈥�

The school will be taking a staged approach to bringing students back in, with a hybrid of remote learning and in-person learning.

鈥淲e鈥檙e inviting our students back — they will quarantine before coming in, they will be tested when they get here, and quarantine until they get their test results. And then I think the really unique thing is we don’t immediately put them in the classroom. We’re going to start with students on campus, but learning remotely, and then as the situation allows, we will transition into more of a hybrid model where students will have some in person, some online,鈥� Belton said.

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Has he noticed a trend in which some students are just deciding to take a gap year instead of coming back to school?

鈥淭hat was one of the concerns. And I think that’s something that most particularly small private colleges are experiencing across the country. I’m a parent of college students, so I completely understand the thinking; you know, why not just take that year? One of the reasons we came up with this ‘plus year’ model was that we know, statistically, when students do take a gap year once they’ve already started, they’re not likely to complete their degree,鈥� Belton said.

鈥淪o offering the plus year allows them to continue that momentum, get through this year, be resilient, and then have the opportunity for that extra time to either take fewer credits this year, get an extra major, get an extra minor, study away, particularly this year’s incoming returning seniors,” Belton said. “They’re looking at a job market next May when they would have graduated that is atrocious, quite frankly, and we’re all hopeful that will turn around. But it gives them the comfort of knowing that they can stick around, they can add to their skill set and maybe take a little extra time for the job market to recover.鈥�

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Considering this move by the school, how are Pacific Lutheran University鈥檚 finances? Many small institutions are struggling, particularly with all the uncertainty involved.

鈥淚 think we’re right in that boat with everyone, to be perfectly honest. We’re all concerned about the inability to really anticipate whether students will show up 鈥� But since we announced the plus year, one of the great benefits has been students have registered and we continue to be currently above our goals,鈥� Belton said.

Listen to Seattle鈥檚 Morning News weekday mornings from 5 鈥� 9 a.m. on 成人X站 Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the聽podcast here.