1. A college education is one of the best investments of a
lifetime.
However, as the financial burden of college tuition is
significant and rising, working has become a necessity for many
students in higher education today.

2. This raises important questions: what is the
overall effect of work? Does it have a
beneficial effect in the long run by building
discipline and a strong work ethic in students,
or does it have a negative effect by diverting
students’ efforts from schoolwork?

3. According to the University of Denver Office of Student Employment there are currently 1,016
students employed on the DU campus.

4. All of them are receiving
funds through the Federal
Work Study program
which provides funds for
part-time employment to
help students finance the
cost of their post-
secondary education.

5. For the students who can’t
afford not to work, the
college experience turns into
a triple burden of handling
school, work and social life.

6. Nineteen-year old freshman and physics major Adriana
Vega is employed as a student research assistant in the
University’s Office of Academic Assessment. Working
six hours a week, Vega has the opportunity to pick and
choose times that work best around her class schedule.

7. If Vega needs more time for her school work, i.e. when assignments are due or during finals week,
taking some extra time off is not a problem. “The office is very flexible with times. I have no
trouble scheduling my work around class time. They are very supportive of my studies,” Vega says.

8. Graduate student
Chloe Campbell is
now in her fifth year
as a library assistant at
Penrose Library.
Twenty-four hours a
week, Monday
through Thursday, she
works at the main
information desk
helping people to find
and check out books
and other materials.

9. Being a Library and
Information Science major,
22-year old Campbell is
exactly where she wants to
be.
“I specifically chose
working at Penrose
because of my plans to
become a librarian,” she
says “I earned a lot of work
experience so far and it has
also been helpful for my
academics, as I already
knew material that was
taught in class because of
my work at Penrose.”

10. As beneficial as her
work might be to her
academics, Campbell’s
main motivation to
work while attending
college, is still money.
“I would not be able
to attend DU, if I
didn’t work.”

11. 22-year old senior Kathleen Redmond finds herself in a similar
situation. She used to be able to organize her work hours around
her study time, but as her financial situation has changed, she is
now reliant on working up to 40 hours a week.

12. The resulting sleep problems and a constant high stress level show however that at one point student
employment can shift from being beneficial to being counterproductive.
“It became hard for me to justify taking time off and don’t do anything. The focal point of my life has
become working instead of actually living my life,“ Redmond says. “If I had other options, I wouldn’t
work as much as I do now. It’s a necessity.”