Many Students Get A Summer Job During Their Time Off From School: Fill & Download for Free

My mom was a teacher. I noticed the following:A teacher’s day doesn’t end when the kids go home. Teachers stay over to tie up loose ends in the classroom, to be available to students who need help, faculty meetings, student/teacher conferences in the evening, school events like dances that need chaperones, etc. And of course if they are band/music teachers or coaches or drama teachers, there are after school rehearsals and events/performances/games they have to be there for.And they take their work home with them. They grade papers and make lesson plans at home. Yeah the time off is great, but they spend a lot of time off the clock doing all kinds of different things that aren’t actual teaching to prepare for the classes they do teach.Oh, and about that time off during the summer—many teachers work during the summer. If they aren’t teaching summer school, they are working some other job during the summer if they are still on the traditional calendar. My mom didn’t have to do that since my father had a good job and they didn’t need the income and because she was on a track schedule for most of her career but I knew plenty of teachers who had to work a summer job growing up.Another thing I noticed was that teachers have to provide all of their supplies.You know how you get stuff like computers, office supplies like pencils, pens, Post-it’s, glue, and all that stuff you need to do your work from your company? Teachers don’t get that. They have to buy all that stuff. They get a classroom with an old desk, and maybe a textbook they don’t have to pay for. Everything else, they buy. All those cute classroom decorations, learning tools they use, personal supplies they need to do their job—they buy all that, and they don’t get reimbursed by the school district for it.

Let’s talk about the rising cost of college, shall we?Here’s my student bill from the University of Northern Colorado for the coming semester:That’s right. $15,500 for one semester.What exactly are all those fees and charges? You’ll notice my tuition (the last one on the list) is only about $7,000.What’s the rest?Rent—$3,345: I need a place to live, and the only way to get student loans/scholarships to cover my housing is to live on campus.Dining plan—$2,355: No kitchen means I need an on-campus dining plan. My plan is the cheapest they offer, giving me ten meals per week.STEP 161 supervision fee—$11: Presumably a fee to compensate my host teacher (or to pay for some aspect of that supervision) during my in-classroom observations.Student Capital Fee—$400: “The Student Capital Fee supports bonded facility debt service and facility operations as well as capital repair and replacement.”[1] I have no idea what this means.LEAF Fee—$10: “The Student Leadership for Environmental Action Fund (Student LEAF) is intended to move the campus community toward a sustainability-minded culture. This fund finances environmental improvements in campus infrastructure and educational initiatives.”Student Services Fee—$444: “Student services and support are funded by this portion of the Student Fees.”Health Insurance—$1,290: You have to have health insurance on campus. You can fill out a waiver proving you have your own health insurance and have this fee removed (which I’ll be doing).Library Fee—$70.80: “Covers print and online library materials.”Online course fee—$45: An extra fee due to the fact that I’m taking one online course. “On-Line Course Fee-online fees pay for adjunct costs resulting from increased course sections and smaller class sizes; it also funds instructional designers, development and training to enhance online course offerings.”THEA 100 and THEA 275 course fees—$40 each: Supposedly to cover the cost of materials and anything consumable used in-course (which really doesn’t exist in these courses).Theatre program fee—$128: No clue. I’m guessing it’s to fund the theatre program, which is bizarre.Technology fee—$160.80: “Used for equipping new smart classrooms, staffing and maintaining computer labs, and providing students access to academic software.”Differential tuition for theatre—$144: Theatre classes are more expensive, so we pay more in tuition to allow the university to keep having them.Tuition WUE—$6,966: My actual tuition. “Covers classroom instruction, student services, administration and facilities. Based on cost and demand, differential tuition may be charged for certain classes (Sciences/SES/Art, Business, Nursing, Theatre).”So that’s how we get to that beautiful number of $15,449.I’m only taking six classes—note that three (THEA 100, THEA 275, STEP 161) had extra fees attached in addition to the over $1,000 they already cost.And on top of that, I pay an extra $250+ dollars in a program fee and differential tuition to cover the mere act of being in my major.And, I already receive reduced tuition as a Wyoming resident. My tuition is, by default, 150% of in-state tuition, which is significantly less than out-of-state. Imagine what this bill would look like if I was from New York and not Wyoming.“Get a job!” you say. “Stop being a lousy freeloader! Work, save up some money, and pay for it yourself!”Let’s take a look at that— “pay for it yourself”. How possible is it for one to pay for their own college?I did some math. The minimum wage in Colorado is $9.30/hour. If you worked 40 hours a week making $9.30 an hour, you’d have $19,344 in one year. That’s assuming you work 40 hours every single week, with no time off.My student bill for one semester (four months of education time) is $15,500.I could take a whole year off from college, work at the minimum wage, and if I didn’t spend a cent of it I could pay for a little more than a semester of college.“Don’t get a minimum wage job, then!” you say. “That’s on you!”Right. The good ol’ “Just make some more money, then” argument. See, I’ve tried that. I currently have a few jobs that pay $20 an hour. If I worked 40 hours a week at $20 an hour, I could make around $41k a year.That’d be fine and dandy, except for the fact that I still have to go to school. At most, I can work 20 hours a week (and even that’s being optimistic).*If I work 20 hours a week at $20/hr (which is well over both the Colorado and federal minimum wages), I could make about $20K a year.Once again, that assumes I never have to get gas. Never go to the doctor. Never buy groceries (remember, my meal plan covers 10 meals a week. The average person eats 21). Never buy clothes. Never fix my car. Never buy shampoo.Even then, I could afford just over a semester of college.The days of “save your pennies from your summer job to pay for college” are long gone.“Well, you should’ve gone somewhere cheaper. That’s on you.”Right. Because it’s on me that the cost of going to a mid-range school three hours from home is so exorbitant.Sure, I could’ve gone to another school. Let’s consider my less expensive options:University of Wyoming—AKA, the only 4-year school I can get in-state tuition at.Casper College—2-year community college.Problem with both?I couldn’t get my degree.As in, neither school offers an equivalent degree program. I couldn’t study to be a theatre educator at either of these schools.So sure, I could go somewhere cheaper, but then why bother spending the money at all if I’m coming out with a degree I don’t even want?There are lots of others, too— “Your parents should’ve been saving up” (their savings went down with the economy, yo). “You should take out loans/apply for scholarships” (done and done. Still not enough). “Not everything in life is fair” (that’s not an argument. It’s just, like, philosophical bullshit). “You need to talk to your school’s financial aid department. There are resources to help you” (Oh, if only you knew…).I’m not saying college should be free. I’m happy to pay for it.I’m saying that it’s insane that college prices keep rising, and there’s no clear way for young people to pay for it. I’ve already taken on $10,000 in student loans from the past year. I’ve applied for every scholarship I can find.It’s still not enough.Jobs are requiring college degrees, but to get a college degree, you need a damn amazing job to pay for it (or parents who can afford it).It’s a vicious cycle. I don’t know what the solution is.I just know that it’s one of my top complaints about the US.I don’t need free college—I need affordable college. Please.*Ignoring the fact that few jobs will hire you for that much without a college degree, and that my current $20/hr gigs are really limited as to how many hours I’m allowed to work (one is max 5 hours a week).Footnotes[1] How Undergraduate Tuition and Fees are Used

While American medical students 20-30 years ago may have had jobs on the side, today this is no longer the case. In my experience, medical schools frown on part-time jobs, and often forbid them outright. Students who are taking loans to pay for medical school are able to get living allowances as part of their loan, usually about $2000/month depending on what city they're in.That said, there are opportunities to make money or offset loans during medical school. Some students get scholarships from their schools or other foundations as one might for undergraduate study. Some schools, especially state-funded ones, provide tuition breaks for students who commit to practicing in rural areas or in primary care. Many students do research during the summer after their first year or take time off to do research for a full year or more, and can get stipends for their work. Combined MD/PhD students don't pay tuition and actually get paid a living allowance while they complete their degrees. Students can join the military, which will pay for their training in exchange for a commitment to work at a base or VA hospital for several years. And a few students do tutor or teach boards preparation classes in their fourth year when they have more time off.In the end, the average American medical student still graduates with over $100,000 in debt, and is committed to a 3- to 10-year residency afterwards in which he/she will make about $45,000-60,000/year minus the the cost of loan payments from medical school (and maybe undergraduate study, too). In short, medical school is pretty bad get-rich-quick strategy, but on the flip side, there is good job security -- there will always be sick people who need a doctor.