Can Your Still Work Your Way through College?

A. The American Dream refers to the idea that a person has the opportunity to succeed and prosper, despite their economic or social backgrounds, through hard work. But if the rising cost of tuition prohibits students from working through college, Can the American Dream still be obtained?

B. Thirty years ago, the cost of tuition was low enough at most public universities that students could pay their way through school by working throughout college. But since the average cost of attendance for all 4-year public universities within a given state rises each year, this is now an almost impossible feat (功绩) . 80 percent of students work at least part-time during college. Recently the question of whether or not working your way through school has become a "thing of the past" was raised by Randy Olson, a graduate student at Michigan State University, who decided to investigate the issue at his own university.

C. His research found that in 1979 at MSU, a student could work one day for any minimum wage job (8.44hours) at $2.90 per hour to pay for one credit hour of school. In 2013, the same student would have to work 60 hours to.pay for one credit hour based on the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

D. The average price of tuition at 4-year public universities rose 2.9% in 2013. This was the smallest tuition increase in nearly 30 years. Since 2004, the average cost of attending a public university in a given state has continuously increased as well. Minimum wage only rose in ten states in 2013, while tuition went up in every state.

E. With these numbers in mind, it’s no surprise some students are working almost full time to pay for school. Ryan Rose, a sophomore at the University of Southern California, works about 30 hours a week to pay for his expenses. While .the university covers his cost of attendance, he still feels the need to work to cover the high cost of living in Los Angeles. "If I went to school at home, I would have expenses that are more fun based, rather than things like buying food and paying rent," he says. "But I felt the educational appeal of USC was going to give me more money in the long run."

F. As a production manager for USC’s "Trojan Events and Services," Rose handles the logistics of booking and planning events on USC’s campus. Since his job reflects highly on the university, he feels a need to prioritize his work over other aspects of college. "It’s changed my college experience because it creates stress that students who aren’t working don’t think about," Rose says. "There are times where I have to decide if an event is more important than a homework assignment because I care about the university’s image."

G. Courtney Williams, a sophomore at Fullerton College, works three separate jobs to pay her way through community college. "I work about 45 hours per week. I wouldn’t have three jobs if it weren’t for the high cost of school. I’m paying my own way through college...I keep up with my studies but I feel like I lose out on college experiences," Williams says.

H. Williams is transferring to Cal State Fullerton in the fall, using money she’s saved up during her first two years at community college. "I got into all the schools I wanted when I applied in high school, but I didn’t have enough money at the time. If the cost of college wasn’t so high, maybe I could only work one job like a normal student," Williams says.

I. Although Olson’s data do not analyze the costs of private schools such as USC, he did broaden his research to include all public four-year universities in the U.S. Olson analyzed the rising cost of tuition from 1987 to 2010 at these schools and found very similar results. After adding a linear regression analysis to find tuition costs in 1979, he found that 182 hours a year could pay for a student’s tuition in full. In 2013, it would take 991 hours to pay for the same year of school. But all of Olson’s data only take into account the cost of tuition, meaning he does not include the cost of food, rent, books and general living expenses.

J. Working 30 hours a week allows students like Rose to pay for expenses outside of tuition. Although Rose’s financial aid package includes a work-study allotment (勤工俭学助学金), this isn’t enough to cover his college costs outside of tuition. "If my company limited my hours to my work-study allotment I wouldn’t be able to attend school because I wouldn’t have enough money. I get the same work-study allotment as some of my friends who live in much cheaper states where the cost of living is much less than it is in California," Rose says.

K. Rose considered the high cost of living in Los Angeles while choosing colleges, but he ultimately decided the educational benefits of a private school in an expensive city would outweigh the costs. "I was offered enough aid to be paid at state universities, but the educational appeal of USC will give me more money in the long run," Rose says.

L. So how does the number of hours students work to pay for school change their college experience? Mary Tomlinson graduated from the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications in 1984. With no funding from her family and just a small grant from the school, she had to work her way through college. But her experience was very different from Rose’s. "I went off to college with no money in the bank, but I was able to cover all my costs by working because the cost wasn’t as high as it is today," Tomlinson says.

M. Tomlinson worked in the mathematics department throughout college but she also picked up another job at the local television station during her junior year. She took unpaid jobs at the school radio station and television station to gain experience in her field. "There wasn’t as much pressure to be well-rounded ... you didn’t need community involvement and leadership and all those things, so that allowed me to solely focus on working," she says.

N. As a current student, Rose agrees that work can detract from his ability to be involved in extracurricular activities. "I can’t be involved in other things because of how much I work. There are times when I see my friends who are involved in clubs and I think I wish I had time for that; but I’m happy that I have my job because I’m gaining things they could never gain," Rose says.

O. As a marketing director who looks at several graduating students’ resumes, Tomlinson believes current students need to make time for both work and school. "Working a few hours is a good thing because it broadens your knowledge base.., the danger is when it becomes so many hours that it impacts your schoolwork," she says. "It’s ideal to have a healthy balance in between." But with the rising cost of tuition, this healthy balance seems to present challenges for modern students.

46. Olson’s study is limited since it only incorporates the data on the cost of tuition in public universities in the U.S.

47. To some students like Ryan Rose, working part-time cannot cover all the cost of school.

48. Mary Tomlinson suggests that current students should deal with the relationship between work and study in a better way.

49. Ryan Rose supposes that studying in some state universities will yield less rewards than in such private universities as USC.

50. Mary Tomlinson believes that there was less demand for developments in all aspects thirty years ago.

51. The rise of minimum wage is limited compared to the continuous and nationwide increase in the cost of tuition.

52. Ryan Rose holds the idea that his work can compensate for what he has lost in campus activities.

53. To Ryan Rose, study sometimes has to give way to work because his work can impact the USC’s image.

54. Ryan Rose’s work-study allotment is less helpful to him than his friends’ due to regional differences in the cost of living.

55. Courtney Williams believes that the high cost of school makes her college life different from others’.