Job hours cutting into your library time? Join the club.
Three years ago, the American Council of Education estimated that 78 percent of undergraduate students worked during the academic year. It also found that 25 percent of full-time students worked full time.
A recent study suggests the current economy and increased tuition and living expenses could be to blame for even more students working or combing the job market. The Delta Project, an education costs researcher, published new reports this month that show students now pay more of their tuition and college expenses than ever before.
Elizabeth Bickford, the University’s student financial aid director, said that because of increased expenses, more students are applying for financial aid. While some aid packages like the Pell Grant have increased to meet students’ needs, some aid offers are running scarce. Work-study is among them.
The federal aid funding for University work-study jobs hasn’t increased in 12 years. Through economic downturn after economic downturn, more students have sought work-study jobs, but fewer opportunities exist.
Sophomore Moraya Kenane took a job for the first time during school this year. Although she wasn’t awarded work-study, she found a job at the EMU computer lab.
The 15 hours a week Kenane spends at the lab helps to pay for groceries, entertainment and to pad her savings for a new car, but it also makes her schedule her time more carefully.
“It’s making me be more productive,” she said. “I think it’s making me work a little harder.”
With increasing tuition costs falling on students’ shoulders, Bickford said financial aid application numbers are up 15 percent from last year, demonstrating families’ inability to support students’ college expenses.
“We have more needy students and minimum wage has gone up, so fewer students get awarded work-study,” Bickford said.
Despite the demanding schedule working students might juggle, the Delta Project’s study indicates that hefty expenses continue to force many students to take on jobs.
While students have need for jobs, campus employers also have need for student employees, Bickford said, but employers are sometimes less able to hire.
“There are plenty of jobs on campus and plenty of places need student workers, but we just don’t have enough money from federal government to pay students,” she said.
For the students who do qualify for work-study, or find jobs themselves, they may find that they are working more hours.
The increased need for financial aid and specifically job opportunities, Bickford said, “signals how important work-study is to needy students.”
Freshman Katey Finley works in the Mangiamo café in the EMU, a job that helps her pay half of her rent and all of her utilities and groceries each month.
Her job allows her living options that otherwise wouldn’t be possible.
“I would have to live with my parents if I couldn’t find a job, so it’s very helpful,” she said.
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Study shows students work more hours
Daily Emerald
February 25, 2009
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