Recently, students who work on campus have had a little free-time on their hands. Cabrini has decided to make a cut in work-study students’ hours. Instead of allotting students up to $2,000 per semester, it has been cut down to $1,000. This is causing concern and budgeting problems for some students.
During college, many students are forced to either take out loans or work their way through college to afford an education. According to the Project on Student Debt, in the state of Pennsylvania, the average college student graduates with $32,528 of debt. This intimidating amount drives a lot of students to work no matter how tight their schedule may be. On-campus work-study is a nice option for students who may not have transportation to an off-campus establishment.
Junior exercise science major Michael Camacho is not only a student but an athlete as well. He is doing his best to budget his funds, but the hour and pay cut is certainly effecting him. “I can only work in the Spring. That’s why $2,000 is so important to me because unlike other students who don’t play a sport, I can’t work both semesters.”
During the off-season you can find Camacho in the library working as many hours as he can to make up for the fall semester off. “I try and get as much as I can out of working only one semester,” Camacho said.
Attending class, playing a sport and working is a lot for a student’s schedule. However in 2011, US Census report said that 71 percent of the 19.7 million college undergrads are working. Since then, the number has only grown. “It was just nice to know I could earn the extra 1,000 because every dollar helps go back into tuition,” Camacho said.
Not only is this affecting the students, but it is also taking a toll on the offices they work for. Jackie Marciano of the alumni office said, “Next year our department is only getting two work study students. This year we have five.”
Since work study is not offered to everyone, students who find their work elsewhere are happy they did. Freshman Jessica DiProspero works in King of Prussia. She has no car on campus and uses the shuttle to get to work everyday.Although her commute can be a hassle in the bad weather, DiProsperso doesn’t mind. “I make more money than if I had work study. Plus I just need a job,” she said.
Many students are starting to seek employment off-campus or through non-work study jobs to live a certain lifestyle. “Budgeting is always hard for a college student,” Camacho said.
No matter how difficult budgeting may be, students are forced to practice money management with the new work-study requirements in effect.
