March 4th, student protestors in Oakland picketed as part of ‘National Day of Action for Public Education.’ Protests started back in September 2009 at UCLA, and has now spread across the United States as an all-out movement to fight increased tuition costs for college students. The protests migrated to Colorado last week when about 600 people marched from Denver’s Metro Campus to the State Capitol. At the same time, protests turned violent at Northern California’s UC Berkley when police attempted to block a walking demonstration. Participants around the country were trying to shine a light on the growing number of students who will no longer be able to afford an education at their current colleges or universities.
While states across the U.S. are slashing higher education spending due to government budget cuts, the economy is forcing similar actions around the globe. Last Summer, an e-petition, ‘Say no to increased tuition fees in England and Wales!’, was started on Facebook to try to stop the the government from raising tuition for university students from £3145 per year to £5000 or £7000. Although the petition achieved 33,617 signatures, the rate increases are still under a government-commissioned review which is not expected to be finished until after the general election this Summer. In Aug. 2009, the Prime Minister came out with a response to the petition. However, in September, the Confederation of British Industry released a report in favor of the tuition increases, as well as in charging students commercial interest rates on loans and making univeristy staff reductions in order to make good the £180 million cuts imposed by the Labour government on the universities.
Steve Gatlin, founder of Gatlin International, the Internet’s foremost resource of e-learning content, says his company is in a unique position to help both colleges and students in this economic climate.
“We’re in a unique situation to help in this very difficult time for both students and institutions of higher learning,” said Gatlin. “Because we are a privately held company, we haven’t been affected by government educational budget cuts. Therefore, we are still able to provide our comprehensive and always-growing collection of online courses to colleges and universities around the world at no cost to them. Also, students who don’t have the budget to go back to school full-time can take our certificate programmes through these accredited colleges and universities. They don’t have to leave their secure jobs. And, if they don’t have a job, they can usually be finished with a certificate course in about 90 days and be interviewing for positions much quicker.”
Gatlin International has recently added courses to meet the current demand for hot jobs in social media and sustainability. Social Media Professional, Green Information Technology, Biofuel Production Operations, and Wind Energy Apprentice are just a few of the new certificate programmes that have been added in these categories.