Boykin 1 Jasmine Boykin Comp I 04/05/2013

Colleges and Universities should provide more work-study jobs. In todays society finding a job that will accommodate you while in school is almost impossible. Most businesses want students to work when they need them to work instead of working when it is convenient to them. College students are known for having this problem. College is expensive and the responsibilities of being an adult while in school are too. Although most college student receive help with paying for school with grants, scholarships, loans and other resources, sometimes its still not enough to cover most of the cost of tuition. In order to help most college students out with this problem the federal government came up with a work study program that Provides funds for part-time employment to help needy students to finance the cost of postsecondary education, (U.S. department of Education) but there are not enough of those jobs available. More jobs should be provided. By providing more jobs it will help eliminate the loan debt that most college students will be in by the time they graduate, help the retention rates go down and provide work experience in the real world. In the past three decades, the cost of attaining a college degree has increased more than 1,000 percent. Two-thirds of student who earn four-year bachelors degrees are graduating with an average student loan debt of more than 25,000, and 1 in 10 borrowers now owe more 54,000 loans.(The Student Debt Crisis). By providing more work study programs colleges will allow students to eliminate most loan debt by working their tuition off throughout the school year and making extra money to handle their responsibilities as an adult. If more colleges and university

Boykin 2 provide more work study programs for student, loan debts wouldnt exist. Students would graduate without the burden of trying to repay loans that they cant really afford. Some colleges have adopted policies like the No loan, Loan Caps, No parental contribution, and the Pell grant match to ensure that low income students have no loans in their financial aid package. The justification for such a policy is that the existence of debt in the financial aid package has a much greater impact on matriculation rates among lower income students than among middle and upper income student.(No Loans for Lower Income Students) Many of the Ivy League college like Princeton University, Harvard University, Yale University, and Bowding Colleges to name a few have eliminated loans from their financial aid packages and replace them with more scholarships, grants and work-study. By adopting polices to eliminate loans more students will actually have a chance at graduating with no debt. Student dropout has become an increasingly serious problem in the United States. The high rate of student dropout between the first and second is a major concern for the majority of US colleges and universities. But dropout (or stop out) from higher education affects students in different ways, depending upon number of factors. (Higher educations resolving door: confronting the problem of student drop out in Us colleges and University.) Many dropouts are due to the lack of funding options. If more funding options were available the high volume of dropout would decrease. Researchers have found that students who work a reasonable number of hours while enrolled in college tend to earn better grades and are more likely to stay in school than those who dont work (or who work too many hours). (Work study: Earning, Learning and other benefits). Providing more work study to students will help the retention rate go down and raise the academic success. Because work study only allows you to work 20 hours a week and is so flexible around your schedule students will be more likely to stay in school because they are

Boykin 3 benefiting from the positive effect of part-time employment, without working too many hours and the have more time to focus on schoolwork. Working any job is a blessing but working as a work study student in college is even a bigger blessing. Work-study jobs can help students gain valuable skills and work experience. It gives students hands on training in the department in which they are interested in and their career path. I conducted a brief interview with Gabby Thomas who is a student work study worker in the Speech department at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock who enjoyed he work study job. Not only does it work around my class scheduled but it also helps me get great training for my career path with the help of different faculty members said Miss Gabby. Work study programs not only help you contribute towards your tuition but it helps you contribute to your future career as well. It helps students to not walk in blind in to their career chose. By providing more work study jobs students reduce their chances on not being in debt after graduating college, reduce their chances on dropping out of school and gain plenty of work experience the real world. Although every college provides a certain amount of jobs to their students, they should increase the amount that they provide so students wont have to worry about not being able to stay in school or pay for it. Work study programs cant harm students in anyway it. It is there to help students be and achieve the best thing in life.

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Work Cited
Barefoot, Betsy. "Higher Education's Revolving Door: Confronting the Problem of Student Drop out in US Colleges and Universities." Open Learning 19.1 (2004): 9+. Print. Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program." Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program. U.s. Department of Education, 12 Dec. 12. Web. 12 Apr. 2013. FinAid | Answering Your Questions | No Loans for Low Income Students." FinAid | Answering Your Questions | No Loans for Low Income Students. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. Johnson, Anne, Tobin Van Ostern, and Abraham White. "The Student Debt Crisis." Name. N.p., 25 Oct. 2012. Web. 12 Apr. 2013. Work-study:Earning, Learning,and Othe RBenefits." Carlina Convenant.unc.edu. Carolina Covenant, n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2013.