Debt-Laden College Students Spend More Time Working Than In Class

The skyrocketing cost of tuition has not only resulted in a student debt bubble that is approaching $1.5 trillion, but it is also causing American college students to spend more time working paid jobs then they do studying, in class, or at the library. A new HSBC survey revealed that 85% of current college students work paid jobs while they are enrolled. The survey found that they spend an average of 4.2 hours per day working paid jobs: 2 hours more than they spend in class per day, 1.4 hours more than they spend studying at home, and more than double the amount of time they spend in the library.

John Hupalo, an education financial planner told Bloomberg: “The economics of the debt crisis have become a major distraction to students’ education. Students’ first priority should be to get value out of their education, not squeezing out hours at a job in order to make money to sustain that education.”

The survey used data from 1,507 students that were aged 18 to 34 and were currently enrolled in both undergraduate and post-graduate programs. The survey also used data from 10,478 parents who had at least one child that was 23 years old or younger currently enrolled at a University. It was conducted by market research company Ipsos MORI.

The cost per college student in the United States, according to a September report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, is more than just about every other country in the world. Tuition costs are also at an all-time high, helping usher in the highest rate of student loan debt in history. Student loans are not only now the second largest type of debt for US households, but they have also cumulatively accrued to about $1.5 trillion. Debt loads are often more burdensome for the youngest Americans who are working jobs with minimum wage or entry-level wages. 40% of all millennial debt is student loans.

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