In recent discussions, experts have pointed out that the rapid increase in college tuition is outpacing the wages that students can earn while studying. A revealing article highlights that a student without family support or financial aid would need to work an exhausting 48 hours a week at minimum wage just to cover tuition costs.
Using Michigan State University’s tuition as a case study, it’s clear how dramatically the landscape has changed. Back in 1979, the price for a credit hour was just $24.50 (which translates to about $79.23 today), and the federal minimum wage was only $2.90. This meant that a student had to dedicate roughly eight and a half hours of work to afford one credit hour. A full month of part-time work, or a summer’s worth of full-time hours, could easily fund a semester of classes.
Fast forward to today, and the cost of a single credit hour has skyrocketed to $428.75. This means a student would need to work a staggering 60 hours to pay for that same credit hour. To cover a typical 12-credit-hour semester, a student would have to clock nearly 48 hours a week on top of their classes.
Graduate student Alex Johnson has analyzed these numbers and concluded that “it is nearly impossible to self-fund your college education today.” According to Johnson, those who graduated in the early ’90s were among the last who could realistically expect to pay their way through school. At that point, a credit hour cost more than 20 hours of work, allowing students to work just 16 hours a week and still get by.
This trend isn’t limited to MSU; it’s a pattern observed across various public universities. Data suggests that a 2013 student would have to work a full-time job for six months to cover an entire year’s tuition. And let’s not forget about additional expenses like room and board. For the budget-conscious student, living at home might seem like the only viable option—but that’s not always possible. For those without parental support, the alternative often involves burdensome loans that can’t be easily discharged.
The reality can be daunting, especially for graduates who find themselves struggling to secure a job after completing their degree, leaving them right back at square one after four long years.
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In summary, the prospect of funding one’s own college education has become increasingly challenging for today’s students, with rising tuition costs making it less feasible to balance work and study.