Students paying their way through college by working part-time is the stuff of legend — or at the least, feel-good nostalgia from our grandparents generation.
You know, the ones who endured the Great Depression and fought World War II.
But at 44 colleges — in 41 cities or metropolitan areas — out of 1,587 nationwide, paying for college through working can be a reality, thanks to low costs and good wages.
And tops in the nation among these is Cheney and Eastern Washington University. According to a study released Aug. 7 by the college finances consulting organization Student Loan Hero,
https://studentloanhero.com/featured/study-students-working-way-through-college/ the city and the university are the best combination for students who want to hold down their post-college debt by paying for their education as they go. Part of that comes from Eastern’s annual tuition and fees of $7,110 — consistently ranked as among the lowest in Washington.
But just as important is a prevailing minimum wage of $11.50 an hour, a wage made possible by voter passage of an initiative in 2016. In fact, according to one of the study’s key findings, “Of the 20 top cities where students can pay their way through college, 4 out of 5 had laws that set wages above the federal minimum wage of $7.25.”
The combination enables an Eastern student in Cheney, or elsewhere, to make $8,970 in gross wages each year by working 15 hours a week. That would cover tuition out of pocket, and leave a surplus of $1,860.
Compare that with No. 3 on the national list, Hays Kan., where a student at Fort Hays State University would pay just $4,007 in annual tuition and fees — lowest among the top 20 schools. That student working 15 hours a week would only make $5,655, based upon Kansas’s minimum wage of $7.25, but still be $1,648 ahead of college costs.
Other key findings in the study revealed that among the 44 colleges where students could work to pay tuition and fees, those costs averaged $6,176; well below the national average of $9,970 per year. Also, because of their respective minimum wages of $11.50 and $11 and hour, Washington and California each placed four cities in the top-20 nationally, with Olympia (Evergreen State College), Ellensburg (Central Washington University) and Bellingham (Western Washington University) making the cut.
EWU media director Dave Meany said in an email that officials there had seen the Student Loan Hero study. He noted that Eastern’s base tuition per quarter is actually $2,126.97, or $6,380 a year, so the amount calculated in the study actually incorporated other fees.
Still, the study proved a “neat feather in our cap for attracting students who wanted reasonable tuition while being able to work and pay” for some of their college costs.
“Sort of speaks to our affordability and quality of education (that) we like to talk about,” Meany added.
Study author and lead reporter Elyssa Kirkham said they didn’t take into account other costs of college education such as room and board and miscellaneous items like books and other supplies since those can vary according to each student and their circumstances. Some students might be able to live at home while at school instead of in residence halls on their own, while others might pursue a course track that didn’t require as many things such as books.
“It’s important to look at the full picture and not just be limited to tuition,” Kirkham said. “Many students are going to have costs above that.”
Also not taken into account was other means students use to pay for college such as loans and grants. A student’s financial aid mixture will determine the size of their post-education debt load.
“There are other factors that will play into this beyond just working,” Kirkham said.
Still, the Salt Lake City-based study author felt there was a lesson in the Student Loan Hero’s findings.
“In Cheney, it pays to have a part-time job if you’re going to school,” Kirkham said. “It’s going to make a huge difference in managing their college costs.”
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
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