By Nicole Malette
Contributing Writer

I am only a second-semester first-year, and I can tell you that the recently implemented “Simmons PLAN” coursework doesn’t work. Here is my background so that you all understand my situation and my perspective when analyzing PLAN.

As I mentioned above, I am a second-semester first-year here at Simmons. I am double majoring in English and education, and I’m also a pending transfer student. The other school I’m looking into is more affordable for me, and their education program is amazing.

It is nothing personal against Simmons, and I talk very highly of this institution; I have a friend in high school whose dream is to attend this college, and I have been encouraging her to go through with applying here because she would fit in very nicely.

That being said, the Simmons PLAN is screwing me over during this transfer process. Should I get accepted into this other school, only 24 of the 34 credits I received this year will be able to transfer because 10 of those credits belong to the non-transferable PLAN coursework. In order to be considered a sophomore at this other university, I need 27 credits. Do you see the issue here?

Luckily, I have four AP credits from high school that can easily transfer to this other university, putting me at 28 credits. What if I didn’t have those four credits at my disposal? I would be behind an entire year because of the Simmons PLAN coursework.

For some, that means an extra year of college to pay for. That means taking out more loans just to afford the extra year. The subsidized and unsubsidized loans only last for so long. College would become an unaffordable dream.

For students still staying here at Simmons, this extra coursework takes time away from courses they need to fulfill their major/minor requirements. This means that they will either be forced to take classes at a local community college just to stay on track to graduate, or have to stay at Simmons an extra year. Simmons is a school that prides itself on making college affordable for all students, yet puts them in a position where they must spend more money in the long run just to receive their diplomas on top of raising the overall cost to attend.

There is a reason why almost 25 percent of the Class of 2019 has left Simmons College, and (surprisingly), it’s not the food at Bartol.