Earning extra spending money or paying tuition and living expenses are among the reasons students chose to balance their class schedule with a part-time or even a full-time job.
While students see immediate benefits of working in Muncie through their paychecks, students also contribute to the community with these jobs by aiding local economy.
Mayor Dan Canan said one of the main reasons students are so important to Muncie is for economic development.
"Also, all the dollars students bring by coming to Muncie, whether they live here or they commute back and forth to school," he said. "It's a huge economic impact on our community."
Canan said having students available in the work force is a helpful point in selling Muncie to companies interested in opening a branch here.
"They like being a college town because Ball State students, college students in general, look for part-time jobs," he said. "They have very flexible hours. It really helps us having them available as a work force that we can help sell our community."
Kari Secrist, senior, is one of 14 students who work at American Eagle at the Muncie Mall. American Eagle employs 23 people total.
American Eagle, like some other Muncie stores, not only depends on students for employees, but also for sales.
"I would say at least 75 percent (of sales) would be Ball State students," Andy Botkin, assistant manager of American Eagle, said. "Whenever school is not in, our business slows way down."
Secrist said most of the money she earns goes to school and food.
"I don't save a lot," she said.
While many students choose to work off campus, there are a large number of students working on campus.
Jane Kelley, manager of payroll processing at Ball State, estimated that Ball State currently employs 2,600 undergraduate students.
Ball State currently employs 3,549 nonstudents, according to Human Resource Services.
While Ball State is the second-largest employer in Muncie, the university represents less than 10 percent of the economic revenue in Muncie, director of economic and policy studies at Ball State, Patrick Barkey said. He estimates there are 60,000 full-time and part-time jobs in Muncie.
"If any business affects the economy - in other words, the business provides jobs, people who have those jobs spend part of the money that they earn locally and, therefore, they support a lot of services," Barkey said.222orts Editor
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