Working to pay for college is impossible at the current minimum wage, according to research by a Michigan State University Ph.D. student, but a UF visiting professor disagrees.
Randal Olson, a third-year computer science Ph.D. student, wrote a blog post arguing that college students nationwide will not be able to work their way through school at the current minimum wage.
However, Colin Knapp, a visiting economics professor at UF, disagrees with the notion. He said college students don’t usually have to pay for their entire tuition without help.
“I don’t think the norm is to work your way through college,” he said.
The availability of federal student aid, loans, grants and scholarships has made Olson’s point inapplicable for a majority of UF students, he said.
UF students were awarded about $550 million in aid, including loans, in the 2011-2012 school year, according to the UF Factbook.
In the March post, Olson highlighted the disparity between the rise in minimum wage and tuition, which he called unfair.
Knapp disagreed and said it would not make sense for the minimum wage to rise at the same rate tuition rises.
Susel Ramos, a 19-year-old UF international studies sophomore, agreed. She works at Gator Corner Dining Center and said she has enough financial aid to cover her tuition and most of her necessary expenses.
“Your wages and expenses shouldn’t be super crazy as a college student,” Ramos said. “Of course everyone would like some more money, but I don’t think it’s bad the way it is.”
Even though the tuition rate and the minimum wage are disproportionate, Knapp said it’s not necessarily a problem.
“If you want an education that’s higher quality than 30 years ago, you have to pay more than you did then,” he said.
[A version of this story ran on page 3 on 4/7/2014 under the headline "Research: Earning way through college not possible, UF expert disagrees"]
