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Edufacts™
Labor Day 2006
Working for Texas tuition is no longer feasible
In 2006, a student earning minimum wage would have had to work 55 hours every week of the year in order to pay the tuition, fees, and living expenses typically associated with two semesters at a Texas public university.
From 1964 to 1981 an industrious undergraduate could have paid for a year of education at a public university — including tuition, food, and housing — by working 24 hours per week at a minimum wage job. In the early 1980s the cost of education began to climb, and the number of work hours needed to pay for it climbed as well, rising sharply at the turn of the century.
In the past, some students worked to pay for college and still managed to carry a full course load, but that is no longer feasible. Of students who go to school part time, 69 percent work full time. By contrast, just 20 percent of full-time students work full time.
Working can have benefits, but too much work can negatively affect persistence and academic success. In fact, the students least likely to drop out are those who study full time and work less than 14 hours per week. Students who work a moderate number of hours — particularly those who work on campus — are more connected to the institution, manage their time more effectively, and are more focused on their academic work than students who don't work at all.
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 student achieve their educational and career dreams.
Source: State of Student Aid and Higher Education in Texas 2006
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). As a public service, TG provides Edufacts, a publication containing current information about education issues, on a monthly basis. 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 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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