Ben-DutkaPower to the Players? How's about Power to the Scholars?
Video game retailer GameStop has announced a new scholarship program that will assist employees (or their children) in college.
Power to the Scholars exists in partnership with Scholarship America, Inc. and is an extension of GameStop's employee-oriented Gamer Fund. If you wish to apply for the scholarship program, the company will begin accepting applications on May 1. At that time, visit this website and submit your information for the 2015-16 school year. All told, GameStop will hand out 40 scholarships worth $2,500 each, which totals $100,000. Said Gamer Fund president Mike Buskey:
"There's no better way to invest in our company than by supporting our employees and their families. The ‘Power to the Scholars' program will enable us to help employees achieve great things in their careers, their lives, and for their families."
Applicants must have worked at GameStop for at least one continuous year, and must also hold a minimum GPA of 3.0. Other factors that will be considered:
I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound unappreciative but what does $2,500 get you in the college world these days? 1/4 of a semester? Well, I guess it might cover your books for all four years.
$2,500 wouldn't even cover your books for all four years anymore, but you're right that it's probably the closest single thing you could cover. It's a pittance, and this whole thing reeks of a PR move by the games industry equivalent of a pawn shop.
I had around $750 worth of books in a single semester once. =
I think the price of an education is what's the problem, not Gamestop. It might be pittance they're giving out and there is an element of PR stunt but they're not obliged to have to do anything. And I'm not just referring to the price of an education in the US, although I hear it's crippling for students. It's expensive here too in Ireland but I do think it costs more for you guys. A bloody disgrace it is. At least greet what Gamestop is doing ( whether it's just PR or not ) with some positivity rather than finding a reason to knock it. I'm sure it'll be of some assistance to someone.
Gamestop is a company that exploits its employees and takes advantage of poor people. They rake in billions upon billions of dollars a year doing so, and then throw out a meaningless sum of money as a publicity stunt. I see no reason to find anything positive in this.
In 2009 they had revenue of close to 25 million dollars PER DAY. They're giving out $100,000 to 40 of their 6,500 employees. Whoppity freaking do.
Yeah, Bio, they could do much more in terms of employee benefits and pay.
But in terms of scholarship grants, that's better than what most corporations offer.
Most corporations don't limit their programs to approximately 0.6% of all their employees, and to an amount that literally takes them less than six minutes to earn. And they're making a big deal out of it.
For comparison's sake, let's assume you have the US median income of $51,939 per year. That translates to you earning just shy of ten cents per minute, every minute of the year.
Would you make a big deal of handing out sixty cents to 40 different people you've been dicks to, and only if they have sufficiently kissed your ass for at least a year? Of course not, because you're not a Grade A d-bag.
GameStop has had a serious problem with public relations of late, as more and more people realize how exploitative they are of both their customers (often kids who don't know any better) and their employees. This is their way of trying to address it without actually doing or sacrificing anything. They assume it will work because people see $100,000 and assume it's a lot of money. For 99% of people on earth it is. For GameStop it's the equivalent of buying a stick of gum.
Last edited by Bio on 4/23/2015 4:31:58 PM
Maybe if so-called institutions of higher learning didn't clearly prioritize athletics over education, tuition wouldn't be so absurd.
I agree that college sports have become ridiculous, but I don't think that's much of a factor in tuition costs (the truly huge sports factories calling themselves universities do spend tens of millions on their programs, but the programs also make tens of millions, so it's mostly zero sum). My bigger problem with NCAA is how they exploit their student athletes to make billions that they don't share with the players or even the schools, but that's a rant for another time.
Either way, tuition problems in this country go much deeper than college sports, IMO.
The last findings I read from my alma mater made it plain that a certain percentage of a student's tuition goes toward athletics, and that percentage is disgusting. It's definitely not zero sum.
Professors and administrative staff in any given school have received standard increases in wages over the past quarter-century, when compared with the rest of the working world. On the other hand, anybody involved with sports at a collegiate level is making far, far above the standard rise in wages.
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 4/23/2015 8:58:33 PM
Well like I said, I was referring to the 'truly huge sports factories' like Michigan, Ohio St., Texas, etc. Obviously not every school makes enough to cover their athletics program.
There are millions of dollars in un-applied for bursaries in the US. It takes a bit of work, but most anyone can make their education cheaper if they just spent time researching and applying for what's out there.
There are nearly zero scholarships or bursaries out there that cover the full ride, or even attempt to. Ben, I really think you can't look at it in relation to the overall cost like that because no one is giving that unless it has a direct benefit to them.
For example, a free ride to an all-star athlete makes sense because winning NCAA championships brings in far more money than the cost of providing education.
I never had my whole thing covered, like most people, but I got a lot of help from multiple scholarships/bursaries. Most of which I had to apply for. In fact, I got one $500 bursary because I applied for a business bursary… I wasn't studying business, but I was the only one that applied for it, so I got it. lol
I got $1500 per year for good grades (That covered about 1/10th of my costs, and I was super frugal). I got a $2000 "leadership scholarship". They gave out 8, only 10 applied, so it wasn't super competitive. I got $250 as a music award for trumpet at a local music festival (I was the only trumpet player that performed that year. lol) That business one I just mentioned, and I was offered $1000 to run cross-country. Then, I got approximately $300 per year in food bursaries for the meals I had to buy when away on road trips for the varsity teams I was on. Then an $800 honorarium for being the digital editor for our university newspaper (I basically just kept the website updated when a new paper released… they released once per month)
My point is, the only one there that required any amount of real work or accomplishment was for good grades. Everything else was just for showing up, basically. But I managed to get over $6000 each year in help, which cut down my costs by about a third or so. And I'm sure if driven, I could have done better still.
And perhaps even more pertinent to this article…
-NONE- of them were as much as $2500.
Because almost no bursaries/awards attempt to be nor are meant to be free rides. They're meant to help. And I think the ones Gamestop are offering are nice ones worth applying for. Especially since only a 3.0 is necessary (Assuming they mean on a 4 point scale. Some schools use different scales) That's only a B average… 70%. Achievable basically by just doing your work.
Combine that with working and refereeing during the school year and working full time every summer, and my debt was very manageable. In fact, I'm not even 30 yet, and my student debt is gone.
As for books, I saved by buying them used (camped outside overnight before the used sale to get the cheapest available. Always first in line!), and if it was a new edition, I bought illegal copies from India on ebay! lmao
Last edited by Underdog15 on 4/23/2015 11:14:52 AM
"For example, a free ride to an all-star athlete makes sense because winning NCAA championships brings in far more money than the cost of providing education."
The overwhelming majority of that money goes right back to the athletic program. Hence, the professional facilities that cost zillions of dollars and the coaches that earn millions. Many schools today have gorgeous athletic facilities and academic buildings that are falling apart.
And as astute and frugal as you were, those numbers are still tiny when looking at the bigger picture. Four years of college, even from regular state schools for in-state residents, are at least 60-80k for four years. Just because nobody is giving a lot doesn't change this abysmal fact.
My student debt is gone, too. But I commuted, lived in a time when I only had to borrow a grand total of $15k for all four years (as tuition for a commuter was only about $5/year), and got a few thousand in grant money.
And have you forgotten? We live in a world now where people expect to be given something for nothing. Getting good grades for money? Bah. We should just give it to them because they need it. 😉
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 4/23/2015 4:56:19 PM