As Universities across the nation are bracing to host thousands of students in the classroom this upcoming Fall, many have forced students to supply proof of their COVID-19 vaccination, while other institutions have opted to offer a wide array of benefits.
The University of Alabama sent an email to students Friday, offering to insert an automatic $20 within the students’ “Bama Cash” account if students notify the school that they have been vaccinated by August 28, 2021.
The school email clarifies, “All students currently enrolled for the Fall 2021 Semester are eligible and qualify after their first dose. Check the status of your $20 Bama Cash reward through the eAccounts app, Apple Wallet, Google Pay, or the Action Card website. For a list of locations that accept Bama Cash and more information, visit the Bama Cash website.”
The message includes no further information regarding the source of these awarded funds, which adds to the stack of ethical and legal concerns the incentive opportunity raises.
The American Psychological Association additionally forewarned institutions in March against socially engineering individuals to receive the COVID-19 vaccine stating, “Direct monetary incentives are likely to backfire.”
A March cover story analyzed the intersection between psychological science and vaccine hesitancy as they cautioned, “Research led by psychologist and marketing professor Cynthia Cryder, Ph.D., of Washington University in St. Louis, found that paying people to participate in potentially risky research studies made the participants believe that the studies were riskier than if they weren’t paid (Social Science & Medicine, Vol. 70, No. 3, 2010). The money ‘conveys that this is a risky thing that you don’t want to do unless we’re paying you,’ Chapman says.”
However, the University of Alabama is not the only American college gearing up with carrot-and-stick measures designed to persuade students to become vaccinated before returning to school this Fall. A U.S. News and World Report reveals some of the current benefits universities are offering, “One college, Rowan University in New Jersey, is both requiring all students to be vaccinated and also providing monetary incentives: up to $1,000 in credit toward tuition and housing.”
Opponents of this nationwide phenomenon argue these monetary vaccination incentives lack equity and fairness when accounting for the multitude of students across the nation who have already been granted religious or medical exemptions from receiving the vaccine.
