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With only $20 in her bank account, every week poses new, daunting, challenges for Mary Carmody, 20, of Milton, as she tries to balance a job, class, and her finances while attending UMass Amherst.
Carmody is just one of thousands of college students struggling to pay their way through the higher education system. With college costs on the rise and a tighter job market, many students are forced to barely scrape by or avoid college all together.
According to U.S. News the average cost of a public 4-year college education is almost $20,000 a year where as a private school has risen to nearly $35,000 a year. At these prices, minimum-wage workers, many of who fall into the 10.1% of people living under the poverty line, according to the U.S Census Bureau, struggle to make ends meet. Many are attempting to work their way through school and are finding that things are more difficult than they once thought.
Carmody works as a floor supervisor at the UMass Recreation Center. She’s been there since January 2010 making minimum wage of $8 an hour. “This job is considered to be at the bottom of the ladder,” said Carmody.
She works for many hours performing mundane tasks such as cleaning the gym at the end of the night and setting up the equipment needed for the next day’s activities. There’s little room for advancement in the job with only one position available, a very competitive and difficult job to get according to Carmody.
Carmody’s parents are helping out with her financial distress by helping pay the in-state tuition price, yet Carmody still faces the issue of finding a way to pay off her housing fees. “To get to school you need textbooks, soap, shampoo, food for your room, school supplies. My phone just broke last week, so now I need a new one, which is going to cost a good amount of money” said Carmody.
Without financial aid from her parents Carmody fears that she would not be able to attend college at all.
Just having a job can be considered a major goal for many people living in the U.S. It fulfills a sense of accomplishment near and dear to the average worker. “I’m relieved to have a job,” said Carmody, “Although, I don’t like it and it doesn’t make me happy”.
Just having a job doesn’t make life much easier for people trying to pay bills it may even add more stress to a person’s already chaotic life. College students with minimum wage jobs, like Carmody, are taking the brunt of this stress attempting to balance out class, expenses, and their fees.
“It’s a problem. Last week, for instance, I had a paper to write, a quiz to work on, I just got some bad news about studying abroad, and had to work during the night. I have to work three times a week, just to afford housing, food, and other necessary expenses. After that I’m left with practically nothing,” said Carmody.
According to the U.S Bureau of Labor statistics 75.9 million American workers were working hourly jobs in 2007. This number is almost 60% of the entire U.S workforce. Workers under 25 make up half the workforce that makes minimum wage or less, also according to the Bureau.
“$8 an hour is not nearly enough to get by” said Carmody “Minimum wage only works if that’s not your only form of financial support” Unfortunately, thousands like Carmody, struggle to pay off tuition and housing rates with a minimum wage job and simply give up their dreams of ever completing college with no real hope of a brighter future.
Carmody has pushed on. She is planning on studying abroad in Europe next year, and even plans on living off campus her senior year. She’s a political science major with a dream of helping those who cannot help themselves. “I hope to be an international human rights lawyer someday. I want to help change the world and my college education is going to help me do that,” Carmody said.
She has absolutely no plans of ever giving up her schooling and will continue to try to make it through tough times and keep fighting on.
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