Courtney Muenchow | Staff Writer

Here on campus, many students have plenty of opportunities to make some extra cash. Student workers are needed in various work study positions each year, and who would pass up an extra source of income? These jobs provide a convenient form of work right on campus. Sure, they’re great for some, but do they really keep students from going broke within the semester?

For students who have their tuition fees taken care of and who don’t need to spend a whole lot, work study is a good way to earn some extra money. With an average of five hours a week, it can push some students over the line that divides “poor college student” and “not-as-poor college student”. If budgeted well, it can serve students well.

However, not every student is that fortunate or that good at budgeting. College is expensive; there’s no doubt about that. Books, too, can seem to cost a fortune. For some students, those five or so hours a week just don’t go very far when the paycheck comes. At the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, an average two-week paycheck may be about $70 dollars, give or take. That’s only about $35 a week.

Don’t get me wrong, the program is a wonderful one. Getting paid to work right on campus; how convenient is that? Work study jobs are a great thing, no doubt about it, and those who have them are fortunate to do so. Unfortunately, they don’t always provide for all of the average college student’s needs.

For some students, the fees of books, gas, and necessary items like shampoo, deodorant, and food are too high for work study alone to cover. Gas alone is a huge expense, and while not everyone in college brings their car to campus, there are a significant number who do have to remember to fill up their tank every so often.

My own gas expenses are a prime example. Every time I drive the five hours home, I end up using a tank of gas. To avoid beginning to sound like one of those ugly word problems we all did in math class, I’ll skip the calculations. But the total amount of money I will be spending on gas alone in the next two months is $200. With work study, that would take about three paychecks, or six weeks of saving. Six weeks of work just to drive home and back for the two holidays coming up!

This doesn’t even take into account anything else that your typical college student needs to buy. There are times when a small meal or a snack outside of Sodexo’s hours are necessary. Not to mention hygiene products. Shampoo, soap, toothpaste, deodorant… These aren’t free, but everyone’s expected to use them. Poor college student or not, please use them! Then there are off-campus activities, and at this time of year, some are starting to think of Christmas presents for friends or family back home. All of this adds up, and there are times when work study can’t quite cover it all.

It’s no wonder students feel pressured to get off-campus jobs as well as maintain both their school attendance and a work study job. If it takes six weeks for just over $200, how much work on-campus will it take to pay for next semester’s required books? You might as well slap on a name tag reading “broke college student”, and call it good.

Then again, college students are smart, right? At least some of us had to have thought ahead and realized it might be best to save up before school, taking into consideration not only tuition but also these fees that pop up. With this forethought, they could have the cash on hand when they need it. I’m sure there are some who have it all figured out. They can live the rich, – or at least not-so-poor – college lifestyle with the extra pay from work-study. Whoever does that, I applaud you.

It’s not really possible to say definitively whether or not work study can keep a student from being poor. So much depends on the individual situation of each student. For many of us, though, work study or not, the poor college student stereotype will continue to apply. Good thing there are Ramen noodles and thrift shops!

Photo by Justice Gage