Page 325 - Keys to College Success

HOW CAN YOU INCREASE INCOME
through work and financial aid?

If you reduce your spending and still come up short, as Tererai did repeatedly and as
countless people do, you may need to look at ways to increase your income. The rising
cost of education leads most students to seek additional dollars through work, financial
aid, or both.
■ According to a 2007 survey, nearly 50% of college freshmen add a job to their
scheduled weekly responsibilities to earn money for tuition. 5
■ Statistics from the U.S. Department of Education show that in 2007–2008, fully
two-thirds of undergraduates received some type of financial aid. 6
If you regularly spend more money than you have available, as countless students
do, read on to find ways to get as much help as possible from these income sources.

Work–Study and Part-Time Jobs

How about a job? Working while in school has both positive and negative effects.
Consider the following as you think about whether working is right for you:

PROS OF WORKING WHILE IN SCHOOL CONS OF WORKING WHILE IN SCHOOL
• Gain general and career-specific • Have less time to study due to time commitment
experience. for your job.
• Develop contacts. • Have less time for nonacademic activities.
• Can become more focused and to • Must shift gears mentally from work to classroom.
use time more wisely. • Can stretch yourself too thin, becoming fatigued
• Earn money.

Balancing a job with your academic work and goals can be challenging. For most four-
year college students, a part-time local job is the best choice. In fact, research indicates
that students who work on campus earn better grades than those working elsewhere,
and students working 10 to 15 hours a week are more likely to stay in school than
7
those working more—or even than those working less. If you decide that the reward of
a job is worth risking time and effort, ask questions like these to define your needs:

talk risk and reward . . .

Risk asking tough questions to be rewarded with new insights. Use the following to
inspire discussion with classmates, in person or online.
■ What obstacles, reasonable or not, have kept you from applying for financial aid?
Identify a risk you can take today to earn the reward of overcoming one or more
of them.
■ How good are you at differentiating between needs and wants? At prioritizing needs?
■ Everyone has coping strategies that involve spending: some people like new
clothes, others like expensive restaurants. What can you do to make the reward of
saving money seem worth the risk of feeling deprived?
CONSIDER THE CASE: Tererai’s financial situation was made even more challenging with
her husband’s illness. Are you prepared to handle a sudden drain on your bank account
or loss of financial support from your family? What could you do to be ready? If you have
experienced a financial crisis, how did you get through it?

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