You enter college with a plan. The plan is to do well in school, but have a job to help with living expenses and other random things. This sounds obtainable, unfortunately, what most students realize is that sooner or later your grades fail or your pockets dry up. A recent study supports this claim stating that students who work 30 plus hour jobs are most likely to have a hard time academically. The Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce (GCEW) reports that the average college student makes $15,080 annually working minimum wage. This salary is not close to being enough to pay for a four-year education. Today’s tuition has increased by 46 percent between 2001 and 2012. Some schools cost up to $65,000. Therefore, a minimum wage salary is impossible to cover tuition thus leaving the student largely in debt (before even graduating from school). The other disadvantage mentioned is the risk of failing in class. The long hours a student puts in at work, the harder it will be to focus on their education. GCEW says that this happens way too often to disadvantage students. With longer hours, the student isn’t capable of graduating on time or, more often, just drops out of school completely. What GCEW suggests is that students should work only up to 20 hours per week or they risk poor academic performance. They also suggest that students should make their work relate to their education. Usually those that take internships are most likely to get job offers upon graduation. To read more, visit Bloomberg.com. Photo credit: HBCUBuzz
