A college education is one of the best investments of a lifetime.

However, as the financial burden of college tuition is significant and rising, working has become a necessity for many students in higher education today.

This raises important questions: what is the overall effect of work? Does it have a beneficial effect in the long run by building discipline and a strong work ethic in students, or does it have a negative effect by diverting students’ efforts from schoolwork?

According to the University of Denver Office of Student Employment there are currently 1,016 students employed on the DU campus.

All of them are receiving funds through the Federal Work Study program which provides funds for part-time employment to help students finance the cost of their post-secondary education.

For the students who can’t afford not to work, the college experience turns into a triple burden of handling school, work and social life.

Nineteen-year old freshman and physics major Adriana Vega is employed as a student research assistant in the University’s Office of Academic Assessment. Working six hours a week, Vega has the opportunity to pick and choose times that work best around her class schedule.

If Vega needs more time for her school work, i.e. when assignments are due or during finals week, taking some extra time off is not a problem. “The office is very flexible with times. I have no trouble scheduling my work around class time. They are very supportive of my studies,” Vega says.

Graduate student Chloe Campbell is now in her fifth year as a library assistant at Penrose Library. Twenty-four hours a week, Monday through Thursday, she works at the main information desk helping people to find and check out books and other materials.

Being a Library and Information Science major, 22-year old Campbell is exactly where she wants to be. “I specifically chose working at Penrose because of my plans to become a librarian,” she says “I earned a lot of work experience so far and it has also been helpful for my academics, as I already knew material that was taught in class because of my work at Penrose.”

As beneficial as her work might be to her academics, Campbell’s main motivation to work while attending college, is still money.

“I would not be able to attend DU, if I didn’t work.”

22-year old senior Kathleen Redmond finds herself in a similar situation. She used to be able to organize her work hours around her study time, but as her financial situation has changed, she is now reliant on working up to 40 hours a week.

The resulting sleep problems and a constant high stress level show however that at one point student employment can shift from being beneficial to being counterproductive.

“It became hard for me to justify taking time off and don’t do anything. The focal point of my life has become working instead of actually living my life,“ Redmond says. “If I had other options, I wouldn’t work as much as I do now. It’s a necessity.”