Students balancing college classes with work make a minimum pay of $9 per hour at Butler CC, which does not match their job value or covers daily expenses. University task-based workloads give student staff members priority roles to help keep campus operations stable. Despite their valuable work, student employees receive among the lowest salaries on campus.
At $9 an hour, workers cannot afford basic living expenses for a single room including rent and utilities, books and meals. Student workers earn low wages because the minimum wage rate does not keep pace with rising costs of living. Most students must work extremely long hours to pay for their needs because their schoolwork already uses all their available time and energy leading to poor health and lower grades. This can affect physical and mental health for many. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation reports that increase in the minimum wage are associated with better health outcomes, suggesting that low wages can negatively impact health.
These students need work experience and skill development beyond making enough money to cover their expenses. Students attempting to work multiple jobs plus taking full-time classes become necessary for them to survive financially. Trying to survive on this limited income harms the students both at school and with their mental health. Students who must support families or have fixed work hour limits because they are international experience excessive pressure because of their limited income. International students also face even more challenges since they are usually restricted to on-campus jobs.
Although education should remain important, students take up jobs because they have no other option to support themselves. Higher education expenses keep going up at a dangerous pace making student debt hard for graduates. Colleges should raise student worker minimum wages to match actual living expenses instead of using their part-time work status as an excuse for low pay. Colleges with their large budget for operations should pay student workers more without harming their overall performance. Student workers represent future careers, their work and talent.