Housing Pros

The Delicate Balance of Work and Academics

By Haley Richards, Graduate Assistant, Colorado State University

“I didn’t plan on having to have (a job),” stated Phillip Cook of Auburn University. “But I realized it wasn’t going to work if I didn’t…You don’t really have an idea what everything costs until you get here” (Wehrman, 2003). Like many of today’s college students, Phillip Cook found himself in a predicament when he entered college. He needed money in order to pay for his living expenses, but the number of hours he needed to work to cover his expenses interfered with his schoolwork. As federal funds have dropped, financial issues are fast becoming a struggle for a large percentage of college students. In a recent study on financial assistance packages and student employment rates, King and Bannon (2002) reported that since the early 1980s, the average grant aid available to each student has dropped by nearly one-third. A 1996 report by the American Council on Education revealed that the average unmet need, which is the expected family contribution, grants, loans and other assistance deducted from an estimated student budget, totaled $3,500 (King, 2002). These figures are alarming considering that they only account for the students’ tuition, institutional fees, and residence hall costs. Food, entertainment, and travel are not figured into the federal financial aid’s student budget, leaving many students with a need to work even if they do not have a deficit for their tuition, fee and housing costs.

With the rising costs of tuition and lifestyle expenses and falling federal assistance, students have two options: borrow more money for college or work more hours while in school. Choosing to work while taking classes is the most popular option. Many choose to work even after they borrow the maximum amount of available loans due to credit card debt or excessive lifestyle expenses (King, 2002). Many students assume that working while in school will save them money in the long run. They figure that working will mean borrowing less and therefore incurring less interest.

While working can impact a student’s academic success and persistence, as it did in Phillip Cook’s case, it is the number of hours worked, rather than the mere act of working that determines the strength of the impact. A full-time student is considered to be working full-time if he or she clocks more than 25 hours per week at a job. The U.S. Census Bureau report from 1997 found that 72% of all full-time postsecondary students worked while attending school (Boggess & Ryan, 2002). Within this 72%, almost half worked full-time (greater than 25 hours per week) while taking classes.

Studies have found that a direct link exists between academic success and the number of hours a student spends working at a job. King and Bannon (2002) found that as the number of hours a student worked increased, the difficulty maintaining his or her academics increased as well. Forty-two percent of students working greater than 25 hours a week admitted that work negatively impacted their grades. Meanwhile, only 22 percent of students working less than 25 hours per week reported academic struggles (King and Bannon). Students working less than 15 hours a week experienced little interference with their academic progress, and part-time work often improved their grades. In addition to negatively affecting students’ grades, full-time work also affects students’ degree completion rates. Many students working full-time find that they cannot attend classes full-time and end up dropping to part-time student status.

As housing professionals who focus on student development rather than financial aid, we may wonder how the issue of students working to pay for their college education pertains to our work. Quite simply, our goals are to help students be successful in college, both inside and outside the classroom. We cannot ignore the financial demands and pressures placed on them in order to complete their college degrees, and we must acknowledge that working students also impact our programming efforts at the university. Despite what students may believe they can handle, they cannot juggle full-time work and a full academic load while still being involved in extracurricular activities and relationships on campus. A student working 25 hours a week and taking classes full-time is estimated to spend 60 to 80 hours per week studying or working, leaving very little time for outside activities.

If we look at Alexander Astin’s Involvement Theory, he sites three factors in creating a positive collegiate experience: academic involvement, association with faculty members, and participation in student peer group activities (Astin, 1999). Students committed to jobs off-campus for more than 25 hours per week limit their availability to meet with faculty members, receive academic assistance from help centers, and participate in additional academic opportunities. They also are less likely to belong to student organizations or participate in residence hall or campus programs. In a study reflecting students’ involvement in student organizations compared to the number of hours they work, Elling and Elling (2000) found that 73% of students working 30 hours or more a week were not involved in any campus organizations or clubs, while 47% of those students working less than 15 hours a week participated in at least one campus organization. Students working less than 15 hours a week were also more available to participate in campus or residence hall programs and built and sustained more meaningful relationships with their peers and faculty members (Elling and Elling, 2000).

With the grim statistics reflecting the long hours students are working and the effects of work on their academic success, we should be asking ourselves “What can we do to help our students better balance the demands of work and academics to ultimately be more successful in their careers as students?” The first task housing professionals can tackle is increasing retention in the residence halls. Elling and Elling (2000) found that students living off-campus worked more hours per week than on-campus residents by a four to one ratio. By having their housing and dining costs pre-paid at the beginning of the semester, students find it easier to budget their money and be involved on campus. In addition, many institutions have living-learning communities that are designed to increase interaction between students and faculty members. These communities aid one of Astin’s (1999) three factors of success for college students without demanding extra time from students.

Another approach we can take is introducing, continuing, or improving freshmen seminars at our institutions. These active learning programs link academic and student affairs while providing students with opportunities to interact with faculty members on a more personal level while learning important life skills. By requiring first-year students to attend such seminars, they can learn how to tend to their educational, social, psychological, physiological, and financial needs.

Lastly, student affairs professionals need to encourage students to seek on-campus employment rather than off-campus employment. Not all work negatively affects students’ academic success, and working on campus typically impacts students’ academics positively. Many times students are able to obtain jobs within their academic departments, thus increasing faculty-student interactions (Elling and Elling, 2002). Expectations of supervisors from on-campus jobs also tend to be more student-focused and education-related. Additionally, working on campus gives students a greater feeling of connectivity to the institution (Astin, 1993). Off-campus jobs are rarely as flexible and off-campus supervisors typically do not place a high priority on education and academic issues, leaving many students feeling a lack of academic support and disconnected from their campus community.

If we could all simply snap our fingers and decrease tuition costs or provide students with greater financial assistance packages, many of the struggles and challenges our students face could be eliminated. Obviously, we can advocate for minimizing tuition hikes and increasing financial aid packages. But, unfortunately, those actions have limited influence. Housing professionals must do our best to understand the financial demands our students face, and we must strive to assist them in exploring their options for paying for college. We can and do have influence regarding students’ financial decisions, and it is imperative that we help them find a workable solution to their financial woes that does not interfere with their academic and extra-curricular goals. Helping students effectively and successfully navigate themselves through the process of finding a balance between work and academics ultimately impacts their academic success and college experience. If students find that they can work enough to pay for their expenses and still be involved on campus and succeed in the classroom, students will have a greater overall college experience, and that is what our jobs are all about.

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