Should your student have a part time job while in college?

My oldest, who was a computer science major, worked as a tutor in the comp sci lab his junior and senior years. He made about $200 a month which served as his spending/gas money. He also put the job on his resume. My second son, a rising senior and also comp sci major, has been working on campus since his sophomore year in the IT department doing web development, etc. He also makes around $200 per month. The job is already on his resume.

My third son, a rising sophomore, is on the rowing team which takes up a tremendous amount of time during the spring semester, so although he’d like a part time job on campus, it really isn’t feasible.

Working on campus was by their choice. My husband and I didn’t require it but we’re glad they chose to do it.

This is absolutely a personal family decision.

Employment during the school year can show this as well. Both of our kids made VERY good hourly wages, and worked their jobs for over 3 years. Definitely showed a future employer they were capable of holding a job (while attending college full time). And both held jobs that would show what future employers would be looking at…responsibility , commitment, etc.

But really…it’s a family choice. If you don’t want your kids to work in college, that’s fine.

My kids save their money from summer jobs to pay for extras. They can work at school if they want, but it’s not a requirement from me.

DS has worked since freshman year. First as an official in intramural sports, then in the student union with increasing responsibility each year. An on campus job can really help with that feeling of “belonging” as well as making friends and spending money. We required working for “fun” money and he has enjoyed making his own decisions about how to spend that money.

Some majors, programs require work or it can make a huge difference in job prospects. THAT, your student should be aware.

As a general rule, I’m a proponent of kids working, especially when the college costs are a strain for the parents. It’s about being in a family, and concern for loved ones. However, some kids have constraints too that may not be wise pushing. So it’s not a one size fits all answer.

My friend’s DD went to USC. One of the components of her program of study required some work that included mundane tasks. She said, some of the kids struggled— they truly did not know how to do certain things because they never did it, coming from households where they were shielded from doing this. Not all from very wealthy backgrounds either—some parents really want their kids to just focus on academics and not lift a finger. The truly wealthy kids, I’m sure will be fine in terms of future jobs. The ones who were useless in helping out, and are counting on decent paying jobs because they are not from wealthy families, did get dinged on references on how useful they were. You got money and connections, no big deal. You don’t, and are counting on college to being those things into a kid’s life, well, yes, it can hurt

As in almost every aspect of college life - it depends. For the vast majority of kids having a part-time (10 to 12 hours per week) job is beneficial. It provides spending money, requires time management skills, introduces them to more people and helps them learn to be a good employee. My kids all worked various amounts during college. My youngest did research and held a part-time job in a ba/r/restaurant where he became the cook! He really liked that and it elevated his cooking skills. It also gave him the funds and flexibility to go away for his senior year spring break with friends.

If my student had a great unpaid internship or research that was not part of class hours which made working impossible, I wouldn’t require working. If my student really couldn’t cope with work and study, school of course comes first. My kids were not in finance or accounting so their summer jobs were not that well paid. My oldest did not work as much for a variety of reasons (some legit, some lack of motivation to get a job). At his college, there were many jobs that were for work/study kids but many others that were not (big med school there). At parent orientation, one of the comment made by the staff was that your kid is not being truthful if they tell you they can’t get a job. I agree that college kids need some kind of job experience, at least in the summer, before they graduate.

Another vote for working. Being able to demonstrate competence is important.

So both my kids are working in college. But they don’t have to if grades are in danger. For both of them it has helped with time management. They are both very active on campus also. With my daughter going to Lacs (2) she had jobs that paid her to study like working at the front desk at her housing that wasn’t busy or baby sitting for professor’s or working in the student Cafe. This last one she transferred to a new lac and was a great source of meeting other students which many are good friends. When home over the summer or winter breaks (5 weeks) she has built in baby sitting jobs like back to back. In Chicago she gets paid like $17.00-20.00/hour so it’s not chump change that she gets paid on campus like $7.25/ hour. She has also volunteered her time and worked for a fee on various projects. We will pay for everything for college but she insists to use her own money for going out, food, buying books etc. I saw her once buying books at our house and just handed her my credit card. She said it was OK she will buy them but I was just so proud of her that she wanted to so I bought them. She paid for her 2 month backpacking trek through South East Asia when transferring schools. She is there now on a grant she applied to and was sent back from the state department. She says “free travel is great”… Lol.

My son also has worked as mentioned as an intermural sports official for flag football, softball and this last year basketball. It gives him a release from his very hard engineering program and he played 2/3 sports also. He never had a chance to do this in high school since he was always at a chess event or engineering summer program or taking classes. He has also started a tech club, put on a major tech conference is a founder and Co founder of these. Got two grants for the clubs. Just did an engineering study abroad and doing an international internship now in engineering. His grades could be better but they are fine overall and he said that you can only study so much. His resume is amazing though for just going into his junior year. Both will decrease their hours as needed and both schools honor this which makes this very easy to work one week 3 hours and the next 10. They spend their money as needed which is always funny that they become more frugal when it’s their money… Lol…
They have their own credit cards and are both establishing credit now. My son is entering a very tough year and told him he doesn’t have to work but he said he will adjust his hours if needed. Also like all his engineering friends work, all have gotten amazing internships /opportunities. I think the work ethic is important to potential employers.

S17 doesn’t work at school. He does a club sport and with his class schedule that keeps him busy. He does work very hard all summer - from the day he gets home until the week he leaves for school, 5 days a week, 10 hr days. It’s enough money to get him through the school year. And he does do some hours for the same job over Christmas break and spring break if there’s work to do. This year he’s even chipped in to cover a tuition shortage from our 529, so we’re fine with him not working during the school year.

This year he applied for an on-campus, unpaid internship for experience, but it’s not a given at this point.

We are doing what many people are doing and telling D19 not to get a job first semester that starts in a few weeks. She has worked a ton over the last 3 Summers and much of her senior year in HS. She definitely has a chunk of change in the bank. If she were frugal and smart it probably could last her almost the 4 years of school.

We would prefer that she get heavily involved in research on campus. Probably starting out unpaid and hopefully moving to getting paid a little. Just have to see how it goes.

My best job in college was working in the science library. Very quiet, occasional book check out or in, shelving or questions. But mostly got to sit and study and get paid for it! That was a work-study job that was part of my financial aid. Definitely did not interfere with my ability to study or participate in activities.

“My best job in college was working in the science library. Very quiet, occasional book check out or in, shelving or questions. But mostly got to sit and study and get paid for it! That was a work-study job that was part of my financial aid. Definitely did not interfere with my ability to study or participate in activities”

My kid would have loved that sort of job but it was (appropriately) reserved for kids on FA. Only unpaid internships were available to full pay students. That was fine with us. But remember that if you are full pay your student may be very limited in on campus jobs, depending on the University.

Studies show a part time job does not adversely affect grades. My older D (English major) worked in the library and was able to use free time to study. My younger D tutored in the Math lab. They used that money for incidentals.

We’ll need to discuss this with my S who will head out in three weeks. With a CS related degree he may not have the time to do that.

Tutoring a course a student has previously taken is great choice. Not only tutors are generally paid well, but also they gain deeper understanding of the materials by tutoring. A student can’t be considered to have fully grasp the subject matter until s/he can explain it well to a novice.

We told ours not to work his freshman year. He had a good bit of savings that paid for his extras. Last year and this year he is working as an LA for the Physics department. He may also add a few hours doing some paid research position in his department. That is enough. He works a lot during the summer. He also has a major leadership position that keeps him extremely busy and takes most of his time outside of studying.

Some folks make it seem like working is a chore. FWIW, my guys all worked at jobs they liked. It was fun for them, as well as getting paid, learning good time management (aka better grades), and having something for their resume. It was easy for all three to find jobs they enjoyed.

Other posts have made it seem like those who work won’t have time for clubs, friends, or research - definitely not true there either - at least - it wasn’t for my lads.

Jobs tend to be low paying (esp research jobs), but sometimes one can do well. My very academic lad earned close to $100/hour tutoring by his senior year and had his choice of who he’d take on and what subject(s) he wanted. He raised his price to get fewer inquiries, but found out that got him more. He did this as he wanted and still kept his research job (much lower paying, but fun), was an RA (earned free room - single room at that), and still enjoyed clubs, being president of two of them and an active member of a couple others. I’ll admit we wondered if he slept, but it was all good preparation for med school considering its demands on one’s time. (He still sometimes tutors even in med school - hard to pass up really good money.)

Another of my lads worked a lot more on campus (again - a job he loved) and found that experience helped him more than better grades would have. His employer loved his references and experience. His people skills were able to shine. He’s just five years out from graduation and already bought a house with his own income. I consider him quite successful.

If one doesn’t have to work (financially) and doesn’t want to work, then don’t (same with adults), but working part time = mundane or bad grades isn’t a correct formula. Many students like joining the adult world and earning for themselves, esp when they are in jobs they enjoy. Then there are the bonuses with the resume and (usually) better grades (according to studies).

Seems like two different things in response to this query.

Working during the school year vs in the summer.

In absolutely believe one or the other (or both) is crucial for post-grad job prospects. These work activities don’t necessarily all have to be paid, they might include research or internships that aren’t - but IMO something paid is important unless going right to grad school.

A blank - or nothing since high school - job resume is going to make it pretty tough to get a job, IMO.

That’s all aside of financial concerns, of course.

Both of our kids had jobs in college though the oldest didn’t after she began cooping. One advantage I see beyond the money earned is it forces a student to manage their time more carefully. This is often the first time students are completely in charge of managing their time and responsibilities. For some too much down time makes it easy to be idle and get behind.

Are most college students able to get jobs that (in addition to providing money) are academically relevant to their studies (e.g. tutoring and research) and/or professionally relevant to their potential post-graduation professions (beyond showing that the student can reliably hold any type of job)?

Obviously, a paid job that is academically and/or professionally relevant is a double-win. But it seems like in some areas, such jobs are very competitive, so that students in those areas tend to start with unpaid internships or volunteering (which may be harder to do if the student needs a paid job to afford college).

I needed to work during college as scholarship/summer money was not enough. Wish I did not need to take the time I could have socialized more and taken heavy loads more semesters. We could afford things for son- his only school job was as a tutor in the math lab, major related. I see no reason to work for the sake of working- I agree that the full time job IS school.

I suppose many average college students could use the discipline of working for time management in college. But there is no reason to add a burden so a student can’t take those 18 credits (more hours counting lab time). I would rather see a kid spending the time adding a non-necessary class than earning money. It all depends on family finances. How much a student spends frivolously depends on how you raised them- you made choices about spending habits. Perhaps some need to learn to live within more modest means than the expensive tastes developed when mom and dad always paid regardless of value/worth.