Farmers barter pork for college education

By Scott Charton
Associated Press

ST. CHARLES, Mo. — With hogs bringing only 40 cents a pound on a good day, Gina Kientzy fretted that her family's farm income would slump so much that she couldn't afford to continue college.

But because of an innovative bartering idea at Lindenwood University — trading hogs for tuition — Kientzy graduated with a degree in business administration.

The hogs were butchered at a USDA-approved processing plant in Troy, Mo., becoming bacon, sausage and pork steaks for Lindenwood's cafeteria.

"It's basically so many pounds of pig in exchange for the price of attending classes. This played a big part in my education," Kientzy, 25, said. "I might not have been able to afford school without this idea."

It's a concept the private school wants to extend to other agricultural goods that could feed students while financing higher education for farm families.

Perhaps half a dozen students have gone through Lindenwood during the past couple of years by bartering hogs for tuition, said school spokesman Scott Queen.

Queen said Lindenwood's president, Dennis Spellmann, came up with the idea after mulling how the school might help cash-strapped farm families.

The school is working with the Missouri Pork Producers Association to spread awareness of its willingness to barter. Lindenwood's financial aid office is prepared to make arrangements for up to 50 students each school year to attend classes in exchange for fresh pork, plus a few other considerations.

Tuition covering two semesters usually runs $11,200. But in exchange for hogs worth $3,200, the school will waive the balance of the tuition. Students are encouraged to apply for grants and scholarships, too.

Room and board runs an additional $5,600 a school year. But in exchange for 10 hours of work each week at various campus jobs, which the university says is worth $1,800 a year, plus cash payments of $1,800, the remaining $2,000 for room and board is waived.

The total potential savings could run as high as $10,000 per school year, Queen said.

A consultant for Lindenwood, Carl Bearden, helped devise the pork-for-tuition program. A Republican member of the Missouri House, Bearden said that in times of tight state money for public higher education institutions, such barter arrangements should be more widely considered.