Today, many NC State students, along with their counterparts around the country, are working a full-time job in order to keep up with recurring college-related expenses. However, what many don’t realize, is that doing so may be putting them at risk.
According to the American Association of University Professors, the recommended amount of work at a paying job a college student should do is typically 10 to 15 hours a week. However, the AAUP says that around one in 10 college students works an average of 35 hours a week while attending classes full time.
Many years ago, one could work only 15 hours a week and still manage to pay for college while also maintaining other expenses. However, those “good ole days” are gone. Despite what your grandparents say, it’s a lot more difficult to stay on top of the college game than it used to be. There are many other factors that make the college experience more strenuous than it already is. According to Time Magazine, 75 percent of mental illnesses manifest by the age of 24 and, further, the Association of University and College Counseling Center Directors found that 36.4 percent of students suffer from some measure of depression. Worryingly, Emory University reports that there are over 1,000 suicides on college campuses every year. Because the dominant stressor for college students is academic related, these statistics begin to make since when we consider the fact that many students are taking 12-18 credit hours, working a full-time job and trying to balance extracurricular activities on top of that.
It isn’t a huge shock to know that the cost of college is expensive. Even with the help of financial aid, scholarships and loans, students still have to consider the cost of living, food expenses and, let’s not forget, textbooks. The College Board gives a simple breakdown of college expenses with the average cost of housing standing at $10,138, textbooks $1,298 and the cost of tuition varying depending on one’s major. The College Board also lists expenses of $3,215 for items that students aren’t directly billed for, such as the cost of transportation. The cost of food is another major factor that forces students to seek employment. Even with the benefits that meal plans bring, the plans themselves are still expensive — the majority of them being more than $1,000 a semester. These high costs can cause problems, like how the Huffington Post found that around 100,000 students in the University of California system are currently suffering from hunger. Ultimately, then, students put their mental health at risk because they have to.
Further, with such a fast-paced and rapidly growing society, it seems that the options not to attend college or pursue other further education and still live a successful life aren’t realistic anymore. Many students are faced with this hard fact and are forced to accept the cost of attending college. Although it doesn’t seem like college will be significantly cheaper anytime soon, there are ways to make the costly college experience more manageable. One way working college students can do this is by having a set schedule for every week. Try to work with an employer to see if there is a way to get enough hours, but still work around a class schedule. Further, always make sure to have at least one day off, if possible.
Another thing to remember is that we all attend a fantastic school, with the multiple resources available to students to help deal with and manage stress. With NC State’s resources, it is thankfully difficult to feel hopeless in a stressful situation. Our Counseling Center is located in the Student Health Center on Main Campus and in the Research II Building on Centennial Campus. The center is open to walk-ins. There is also a food pantry, called Feed the Pack, located in Broughton Hall, which provides food for students and faculty in need.
Even with all the resources, though, 40 percent of students still do not seek help, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. If you or someone you know is feeling stressed from work, classes or anything else, please reach out to the resources on campus that are here to help you. It might just be the best choice you’ll make all year.