Cindy Cuadra/Staff writer
Ideally, after four years of college, students receive a degree that tells the world “I’m ready to contribute labor to society.” While some graduates are entering the workforce for the first time, for many other graduates, this will be the promotion from getting an hourly wage to receiving a yearly salary.
Whether it’s a part-time job, an internship, or even just a volunteer position, student workers experience college at a cost.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in October 2015, it was estimated that only about 6.8 percent of college students were unemployed. With this statistic proving that the majority of college students are also workers, why don’t universities work toward better accommodating student workers?
According to The New York Times article published in 2014 by Tamar Lewin, only 19 percent of full-time students at most public universities complete a bachelor’s degree in four years. Some reasons behind the lack of four-year graduates include the inability to register for required classes, lost credits during a school transfer, and taking too little credits per semester.
Many students are working to pay for school and with the limited flexibility that comes with jobs, attending school full time can be challenging.
In addition, having such a small pool of options for courses and professors to accommodate an entire public university just won’t cut it for most working students.
Because classes fill up so quickly, registration days are just as daunting as the Hunger Games.
As a student worker myself, I found it difficult at first to find the balance between work and school. While being a student worker allows you to learn the value of money, working hard and time management, it can be exhausting to maintain a high level of focus all the time
Ultimately, public universities can do many things to alleviate the stress of student workers, who make up the majority of the student body: offering more courses and class times, decreasing the demand for expensive university-edition textbooks and creating easier ways for students to pay off their courses with the limited wage they receive.
DISCLAIMER:
The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of FIU Student Media Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.
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