Starting next semester, Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, PA will be offering a tuition waiver program for local residents who were recently laid off due to local business or industrial plant closings. The college offered a similar program from 1992 to 1995 and from 2002 to 2004 in response to tough financial times. At approximately $1,236 per student, the program is estimated to cost the institution more than $100,000. Bergen Community College in Paramus, NJ offers a similar tuition break, working with the local workforce investment board to help place individuals who qualify for the waiver. The trend may spread to private institutions in the next year — starting next semester a private college in Southfield, Michigan is adopting a similar program for unemployed local residents and their children.

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