Problems of the Working College Student I work thrity-five hours a week at a warehouse in Ontario California. When I first registered for college classes, I figured college would be fairly easy to fit into my schedule. After all, I thought, college students are not in class all day, like high school students are. So, I assumed the twelve hours a week I’d spend in class wouldn’t be too much of a load. But I was in for a big surprise. My first semester at college showed me that students who work while going to college face problems at school, at work, and at home. First of all, students who try to juggle job and school responsibilities find trouble at school. Early morning classes, for example, are particularly difficult for me. Because …show more content…
Sometimes students come to work very tired, which is another problem. For example when I don’t get enough sleep I can become rude to fellow co-workers, and then the rudeness can get me into trouble. I remember one particular time a co-worker reported me because I was sarcastic to her. She had spent a half hour complaining about my job performance and I had been too tired to be patient and I lost my temper. Once again, my supervisor reprimanded me and I was asked to leave for the night. Another time, school interfered with my job when I had to leave work early to take a make-up test at school. I know my supervisor was unhappy with me then, too. Arranging a schedule that will fit the needs of schooling is a solution to combat this problem. Working college students can also suffer outside of classes and the workplace. For example my schedule illustrates the conflicts of trying to take on too many duties. Since I work nights during the week, the weekends are a more convenient time that I can study. Because I have to use my weekends to do school work, I can’t do other things. My apartment is a mess since I have no time to clean it. Worse, my girlfriend is threatening to leave me because I have no social life. We never even go out like we once used to now when she comes over, I am too busy studying. However the rewards of earning a college degree in this economy can be the difference between having
Alene Semuels is a writer for The Atlantic, and formerly wrote for The Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The author's purpose for writing this article was to inform college students and the public about opportunities to work while in college. Also it shows college students that working a full time job might not be the wisest thing to do while attending college full time. When this article was written, there was a new trend beginning to arise. In 2015, Georgetown University did a study of students who worked while in college. They found that 70 percent of students were employed while in college and 25 percent of those students are working full time while simultaneously going to college full time. Both the Chicago Tribune and CNBC wrote articles about the findings in the Georgetown study. Putting these things together, Semuels felt persuaded to talk about the topic from two
Is college becoming less of a reasonable option? in the article “Manual Labor, “All Night Long: The Reality of Paying for College” Alana Semuels points out the struggle of paying for college for students all over the nation. Students are working jobs through college to get it payed for, and it is a hardship for some to handle both school and work. Alana Semuels outlines this topic by asking two main questions; “… Can college students really work the night shift five nights a week and stay alert enough at school to understand what is happening in their classes?
In the essay “College Value Goes Deeper Than the Degree” author Eric Hoover claims a college education is important to one 's well-being so they can get a job and be productive in other parts of life. Promoters of higher education have long emphasized how beneficial college’s value and its purpose. Many believe the notion that colleges teach students are life skills to apply anywhere, they also work hard to earn a degree and learn specific marketable skills which they can use to get a good job. Though obtaining a college education and a degree is helpful in countless of ways, it is not necessary to pursue a college degree in world where a college degree is seen different now, people without turn out fine, the growing average of debt that students who attend college have to pay off and people without a degree can obtain many jobs that do not require college degrees.
College graduates, on average, make a whopping one million dollars more in lifetime earnings than those with a high school diploma. Those with a college degree now make $17,500 more per year than those without — a wage gap that's doubled in recent decades. Those without a degree are four times more likely to be unemployed.One of the biggest and most important reasons for anyone to attend college is the upper hand it gives with regards to jobs and career. A college graduate has a higher chance of landing a job when compared to an individual with a high school qualification. Further, a college graduate also has better options and opportunities to progress in their
Over the past twenty-five years, college costs have accumulatively risen four-hundred percent. The percent of parents who contribute to their child’s student debt has dropped from thirty-seven percent to twenty-seven percent, compared to three years ago. Due to the lack of aid, most students have to try to balance a job and school at the same time resulting in eighty-five percent of college students working at least twenty hours a week. It has also been noted that students who work twenty hours or more a week while attending classes at the same time are less likely to graduate due to the high stress environment. Sixty-two percent of college students who drop out were responsible for their own college education. Even when students drop out, thirty percent are still faced with college debt, creating a loophole impossible to recover
In 2015 about thirty percent of American’s who started college graduated. The main reason behind this low percentage rate is that most students are attempting to juggle the stress that comes with their college career as well as the stress that derives from their places of employment while enrolled. With this burden that is placed on students this often leads to them extending their graduation date up to two years because they cannot dedicate the required amount of time to completing their coursework. In contrast if college education was made free, the stress from work would be completely alleviated because they will no longer have to worry about working to pay for their education. This idea is not a new one as our current public
In order to get a decent paying job, you have to have a college degree. Many people will not be able to go to college full time because they have to work part-time or full-time to be able to afford college and can not move on to a higher paying job with out it. Low income students have always struggled with college bills. Financial and political forces are making it harder than ever to get a college degree, which is crucial to getting a high paying job (Philadelphia Inquirer, 1). It is extremely difficult to get a job and go to college full or part time, just to have a higher paying job. Many students hope to avoid a soaring loan debt. They work long hours; take courses part-time and are commuting to college rather than living on campus. These compromises greatly reduce chances of earning a college degree in a timely manner if at all (Philadelphia Inquirer, 1). As a result, students must rely on even larger loan debt to get through school. Many students have to put off getting their degree and some never go back to get it.
On average, an American working full time, will work between 8 AM- 5 PM 5 days out of the week. If a college student is spending over 40 hours on just practicing for sports a week, going to 10-15 hours of class weekly and trying to find a job that pays enough to help him or her survive through his or her courses, how would it be expected to make it through college and trying to make time for his or her work to have money in your pocket? That 's not including the hours of studying him or her would have to put in for quizzes, exams, tests and even having to do homework. It seems nearly impossible to actually make ends meet if you do not have enough hours out of the day to go to work, and make money so you buy the necessities needed especially if you are living in a dorm.
David Leonhardt in his article “Is College Really Worth It? Clearly New Data Say” goes over the biggest negatives of college that deter students and even returning adults from receiving a higher education and earning a degree. He talks about the struggles of finding work after college and the accumulated student debt. Daivd Leonhardt points out that “Americans with four-year college degrees made 98% more an hour on average in 2013 than people without a degree.” (Leonhardt). Which shows that as much as college costs, you get that back multiple times over after graduation and after you are employed. The stress and struggles that undergraduates face such as deciding a major, the issue of time commitment and large financial sacrifices are worth
Despite of whether going to college is worth it or not, recent college graduates have become more successful in their lives. Some people may think that attending college is a waste of time and money, while others feel that college gives them valuable skills in the real world. College will help the person gain the necessary work skills for his or her future job career. Moreover, the job that a person gets after college can outweigh the money and time the person spent in college. College graduates will be more favorable to have a better job than those who does not have a college degree. As our generation is rapidly changing, the work- force is getting tougher which means having a higher education is important in today’s world. Having a college degree is an obvious part of the candidate and is expected by the many employers. Nonetheless, going to college can also give students the opportunity network and develop personal connections among other students who are also interested in the career field.
full-time work, tens of thousands of these college students are likely to drop out of
Most of us working students probably wouldn’t have chosen to work full-time while attending college, but we didn’t have the choice. Still, many of us have
According to Lupien, McEwan, Gunnar, and Heim (2009), going off to college involves significant adjustments to their daily routines; sleeping and eating habits, time-management skills, and stress levels will be altered in one way or another. First-year students have to adjust to the new school environment, different social settings, and new schedules, all without the help and guidance from their parents, who have been there for them for eighteen years. Over 30% of college freshman report that they feel overwhelmed (Klainberg, Ewing, & Ryan, 2010), where some students even opt to work as they juggle their class and work schedules. Some students work at a job or study harder than others, but they are all trying to get degrees so maybe one day they will have meaningful and significant lives. It is a constant struggle for everyone who is trying desperately to make him or herself into a success. And every college student wants to be involved in society in a positive manner, allowing contribution of their ideals and values to others.
Having the option to take the same class at the comfort of my own home at my own pass and at a timely manner with due dates given by instructor. This also gives students an opportunity to complete the course even earlier, but this depends on if the professor has the whole course unlocked to complete early. If having a hard time concentrating is not enough, but also having a busy schedule makes it hard to juggle something as big as collegiate level learning. Most college courses are offered in the mornings, or mid-day, this causes complications with students schedules.” A new study from Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce finds that, over the past 25 years, more than 70 percent of college students have worked while attending school. And the number of working students has grown as college enrollment and tuition have increased.” (cnbc.com) this quote states that majority of college students are juggling college as well as working to pay for their ever growing tuition. “Some 7.0 million students will attend 2-year institutions and 13.4 million will attend 4-year institutions in fall 2017. About 17.5 million students are expected to enroll in undergraduate programs and 3.0 million will enroll in postbaccalaureate programs (source).” (nces.ed.gov) this quote states that 40.9 million students will be attending some sort of higher education, out of that 40.9 million around 29 millions students have a job to help pay for their tuition. I am
The first cause of students dropping out of college is due to the fact that they are unable to balance their work and school together. A questionnaire was completed by 42 first- and second-year students from a single degree program at the end of Semester 2. Findings - Within this group, 83 per cent of students worked at some point during term-time of their degree program. In total 58 per cent of those students who worked did so to either cover or contribute to basic costs of living. While the majority of students felt they could balance work and study, half of all students questioned felt that working could have a negative impact on their degree classification (Working to live). Even full-time