RALEIGH, N.C. — As the cost of education rises, students paying their way through college have to tack on more hours of work to afford an education.
A study done by My eLearning World revealed that students have to work four times the amount of hours at a minimum wage job to receive the same education as students 30 years ago.
On average, a student would have to work 2,022 hours on minimum wage to afford a year of tuition at a public university. That equates to roughly 39 hours per week.
North Carolina has one of the lowest costs for in-state tuition, with the average cost for the 2022-2023 school year estimated at $7,360. According to the study, students would have to work just over 25 hours per week, every week of the year at minimum wage to afford a full year of education.
While public and private universities are traditionally more costly, community college still comes at a cost.
LaTonya Parsons is the student money management coordinator at Wake Tech Community College that serves about 70,000 students annually.
"The biggest challenge by far with students is trying to budget, trying to make ends meet, find affordable housing and being able to juggle being in school while making enough money to support themselves financially," Parsons said.
Parson says the majority of students who are paying their way through college have other financial burdens.
"A lot of times we feel powerless or hopeless. I like to empower students to take control no matter where they are. There is something we can do to make their situation better," Parsons said.
Chris Rickard is a student-employee at Wake Tech. He works 21 hours a week as an enrollment navigator while pursuing his degree in Information Technology.
"For the students out there that have one income, that can be very difficult to be balanced with their school work," Rickard said.
At Wake Tech, students have access student success coaches at the Care Center. The success coaches work with students to provide resources in any area they may need help in.
Ashley Wheeler works as a student success coach and says they want students to be able to have a healthy balance.
"These students are in school to find a potentially better career, to get out of whatever the situation it is that they’re currently in and we just want to make sure that there’s a good work life balance, even when it comes to school, so that is why they can be successful in their programs," Wheeler said.
The Student Money Management program and Care Center is free to access by any Wake Tech students.