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The Guarantor of Choice SM |
Edufacts™
May 2005
Want fries with that? Too much work impacts degree completion
Should college students work while going to school? With tuition and cost of living expenses continuing to rise, the number of undergraduates working part- or full-time is at an all-time high, but questions remain about whether working is ultimately helpful to academic and career success. A look at the numbers shows that while working a few hours a week can improve a student’s chances of academic success, working more than 14 hours per week can actually jeopardize a student’s academic future.
Working is the chosen financing method for the majority of American college students. Four-fifths of all undergraduates nationwide worked while enrolled in school in the 1999-2000 academic year, and nearly 40 percent worked full-time. More than two-thirds of undergraduates worked 16 or more hours per week while enrolled, with an overall average of 32 hours per week among those who worked.
Many students feel pressure to work in order to pay for tuition, books, car notes, rent, food, and other basics. However, an excessive number of hours spent working — and not studying — can endanger a student’s chances of receiving a four-year degree. Students who enroll on a full-time basis and devote most of their time to school are more likely to complete a degree in a timely manner than are students who go to school part-time. While two-thirds of freshmen who entered college in 1995 were still enrolled in school in 1998, fewer than half of those who worked full-time were still enrolled.
Students who work modest hours are the most likely to be on their way to earning a four-year degree, while students who work full-time are the least likely: 65 percent of incoming 1995 freshmen who worked 1-14 hours per week were still enrolled in a four-year school in 1998, versus just 15 percent of those who worked 35 hours or more.
For tips on how to establish high expectations for students as early as middle school and for assistance in planning for higher education academically and financially, visit www.AIE.org. TG provides this Web site as a public service to help all families and students achieve their educational and career dreams.
Source: State of Student Aid and Higher Education in Texas, 2005
About Edufacts™
As a public service, TG provides Edufacts, current information about education issues, on a monthly basis.
About TG
TG is a public, nonprofit corporation that helps create access to higher education for millions of families and students through its role as an administrator of the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). Edufacts is one of the many ways in which TG promotes awareness of education issues, advising the public on national and state trends in education and student aid, and serving as a premier source of information.
High resolution files suitable for publication are available as a free download from TG’s web site at http://www.tgslc.org/edufacts/index.cfm. For more information, please e-mail or call kristin.boyer@tgslc.org or (512) 219-4990.
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