When the economy was booming, students simply went to class in order to prepare for their careers. Now that times are tough, though, more and more students are finding that they’re going to have to juggle work along with a full class schedule.
This isn’t just the case for undergrads either. According to an article from the Tallahassee Democrat, a 32-year-old graduate student attends class and also drives a cab both day and night. Without his job as a cab driver, he simply can’t be in school.
Nationally, 52.6 percent of college students worked part-time in 2007-2008 and 26.4 percent worked full-time, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education’s annual almanac, which was reported on in the article.
Kevin Smith, 23, seems like your typical college student, but as the article divulges, he attends Tallahassee Community College, working on 15 hours worth of classes and works 40 hours per week at Subway. He lost his financial aid, so he needs the money from his Subway job.
Even though Smith lost his financial aid, more than $400 million was given to Florida college students who attend the University of Florida and Florida State University, among others, according to the Democrat.
The grad student who works as a cab driver by night had a piece of advice for those of you out there struggling with jobs and school: eliminate things that are viewed as luxuries, such as cable TV or cell phones.
A Florida school career center director said in the article that she’s seen a 50-percent increase in the number of students in need of a job this fall, mostly because of the recession. She also said that due to the fact that students are having to work and juggle school, it’s going to take them longer to reach their career goals.
Our take:
I think it’s just sad that students have to work so hard while trying to maintain good grades in classes. I know mostly everyone has to do it, but the economy is making it seem ten times worse than it should be. I think once things get back on track financially, students will be able to work a little less and finish their degrees on time in the process.
