The cost of college, like the cost of everything else, is going up. In fact, in the past 10 years, the price of attending a university has risen by more than 25%. It’s so expensive that a lot of promising students don’t get to go and those who do often end up saddled with student loan debt. So the fact that Oakland University in Michigan sent emails to 5,500 students mistakenly awarding them hefty scholarships seems like a very cruel joke.
Students received a congratulatory email on January 4th, according to the New York Times. It read, “You worked hard and it paid off!” it read, and informed students that they would receive a $48,000 academic scholarship over the course of four years. That’s a $12,000 a year scholarship at a school where the in-state tuition is $13,934 per year, according to Oakland University's website. That’s basically a full ride.
