<p>I often see assumptions in this board that students will earn several thousand dollars during the summer to put toward tuition/room & board/personal expenses. And for two years D has been able to do just that. But today she learned that the day camp she has worked at for the last two summers is slashing its staff in light of plummeting enrollment, and she has no job for next summer. This is a pricey camp in an affluent area that has always been so popular that it has had waiting lists every summer for as far back as I can remember. Enrollment was down last summer, but now it's fallen off a cliff. Everyone is stunned and scrambling, including the owners. I have no idea if D will be able to find any paid employment this summer. My point is that times are tough in ways they have never been in our memory. It's dangerous for anyone to assume that college costs can be offset with summer employment. I hate to sound like a prophet of doom and gloom, but it's smarter to be conservative and only take on financial obligations that can be met without depending on the summer job market. We are fortunate in that we will be able to cover some of D's shortfall if she doesn't find work, though she would find herself making some serious lifestyle adjustments.</p>
<p>Another bad part of this is that, at least for the full-need schools, virtually all CSS profile schools (not sure about FAFSA-only schools, but wouldn’t be surprised if they require this as well) schools expect students on FA to have a “contribution from summer earnings”. This expected contribution is built into the financial aid packaging. For Kid#1’s school, the expectation for a sophomore this year (2010-2011)was $2400! The schools don’t seem to give a rip that multiple articles in the media said that summer 2010 was the worst summer on record for employment of teens and college students - they still expect the $2400 contribution (or whatever).</p>
<p>Kid applied all over town to dozens of jobs. Got on part-time at a store, but only got an average of 15 or so hours a week at minimum wage of $7.25. When kid asked if s/he could request to be put on the schedule a specific 3 0r 4 days per week (say Fri-sat-Sun, or TWTh, so that job could be juggled with a second job on other days of the week the answer was “no”. Kid’s school is on quarters, so that means not arriving home until after the local college kids (and virtually all college kids) have been out of school for more than a month! Only $1200 or so was cleared after FICA and a teensy bit of state tax was taken out (was exempt from Fed withholding), then some clothes & shoes (at bargain basement clearance prices) were needed for the upcoming school year. Some money here & there for the occasional fast-food meal with friends or a movie, and the kid was far, far short of the school’s unrealistic “summer earnings contribution”. The shortfall essentially gets added on to the parents’ EFC. ACK!</p>
<p>In this economy, with such a huge unemployment rate, the schools’ expectations aren’t anywhere close to being realistic. Particularly for kids on the quarter system, and/or kids who don’t have relatives or other connections who can give them a job</p>
<p>As a newbie at filling out all these college financial forms, one of the first questions I had was how the h-ll were we supposed to estimate how much D would make at some fantasy summer job! D has never had a summer job; she has gone to computer came for the last 5 years. She did get a very good afterschool job halfway through her junior year (which given the state of teen employment was like a minor miracle!) But now all I can do is low-ball the summer job earnings. </p>
<p>It is quite ridiculous, but then again this whole process seems to be full of hocus-pocus and fantasy! I am so glad we have just one child, and I am scared out of my wits for my friends with younger children. At some point this insane cost of higher ed and the process of applying for aid is going to blow up and from what I read on CC, it looks like it will be coming sooner than later as graduates scramble to pay off the outrageous amounts of money they have had to borrow just to get a BA!</p>
<p>I work with a 20-something who has $65,000 in loans (sounds low compared to some discussions here). She tells me how much it sucks as she cannot save for anything like a wedding or buying a home. At some point this will trickle down to the rest of the economy which will become stagnant. No one will be able to afford to move up in the world!</p>
<p>I have been wondering about the same thing myself. My daughter had a job last summer, made $1600, out of that paid for some of her own expenses, clothes, etc, and a gym membership so she wouldn’t have to waste credits taking in-school gym and instead could earn gym credit through attending workouts after school and at night, thus using school time for more important academics. She has not had a job since, because there are no jobs for teens under 18 around here. With the economy the way it is, employers prefer to hire adults who have unrestricted work hours. My D won’t be 18 until she is on a college campus somewhere, so this summer doesn’t look too promising, and she has applied over and over again everywhere near home she can think of (she doesn’t have a car, so getting to work has to be practical) Colleges that expect summer earnings toward college are being unrealistic in this time and I have wondered when they would realize the real world is presenting a problem where employment for kids is concerned! I am glad to see someone else having the same difficulties and concerns! On the Profile, where asked, I wrote that she is unemployed, unable to find a job, etc, and I hope if they see that kind of thing enough as a trend, it will have to be considered somehow!</p>
<p>I filled in some medium-lowish fantasy number (like minimum wage for a couple of months) on the profile for summer earnings because I read that if you were realistic (as in 0) it would look like student doesn’t want to work and that would look bad.</p>