The green piece of legal tender is necessary for a college student's financial survival, but the real cost could be in missed opportunities. When jobs become more important than community involvement, students' college experience and universities' sense of community both become diluted.
Lisa Pellerin, Ball State assistant professor of sociology, said the college experience is changed for everyone when students choose to work instead of joining student organizations or campus activities.
"You have an impoverished college experience," Pellerin said. "College students need to experience college fully in order to develop life skills vital to their ideal occupation."
About 50 percent of first-year college students worked at least part-time in 2004 to help pay for education, according to the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
Cecil Bohanon, Ball State professor of economics, said students should understand college is a time for reflection as students get into the real world.
"Education is a very precious time in your life," Bohanon said. "Part of what you do growing up is balancing costs and benefits."
COLLEGE'S LOSS
Melinda Messineo, Ball State assistant professor of sociology, said when students spend much time working, both they and the university lose out.
"It takes involved members to have a dynamic and strong community," she said.
The campus landscape is bound to change if membership is low among intramural sports, student government, performance arts groups and volunteer organizations.
Senior Lauren Walker works about 25 hours a week at Pleasures to pay for rent, a portion of school, food and a cell phone. Walker has worked since she was 17 and said she feels she has lost a portion of her college life.
Walker isn't alone. Junior Sam Bullard was not able to be on the rugby team this semester because he needed to work.
"I definitely feel like I'm missing out sometimes," Bullard said.
Bullard works as a waiter in Muncie and a lab assistant at Ball State. He could depend solely on his parents for support, he said, but likes to maintain some financial independence. He plans on joining the team next semester once he has enough money saved.
TOP PRIORITIES
Sociologists say more students now than in the past are spending time making money to buy luxuries rather than spending time to get involved in their college communities. Pellerin said many students choose to work so they can pay for material items to support a lifestyles filled with brand-name clothing, high-tech electronics and cars.
Larry Beck, associate director of the Ball State Career Center, said the decision to get a job all boils down to priorities. The Career Center helps students find internships, part-time jobs and learn useful job-hunting skills.
"We didn't have all the electronic toys that there are today," Beck said. "It just depends on what's important."
When he needs extra cash, Junior Michael Duning said he works at an Indianapolis restaurant to earn "play" money or cash he can use to spend on fun activities or products.
Going out to eat, buying new clothes and spending time at the bars add up, not to mention buying textbooks, Duning said.
"College lifestyles are expensive," he said.
Beck suggested students find a job that complements their field of study and could lead to opportunities upon graduation.
Not all students work solely to buy materials they desire. Sophomore Heather Hurst is a nursing major and works up to 30 hours a week at Community Hospital in Anderson and pays her own tuition. Working in the nursing industry now will give her an edge later, she said.
"I feel like I'm getting ahead and not missing out," Hurst said.
She said she knows how important school and money are so it helps when the two can work together for a common goal. Hurst said she sees the benefits her university life can bring both inside and outside the classroom.
"You can't get anywhere without a good education."
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