Expenses cause students to look for work

By Emily Baldauf
Senior Writer

She makes a great waitress.

Casey Cauffman's sweet smile and her friendly disposition as she runs down the list of today’s specials make her the kind of waitress anyone would want to have.

Her customers would never guess all the pressures weighing on her mind.

"I’ve thought about dropping out a few times because I was so totally overwhelmed," the junior in the School of Liberal Arts said.

Cauffman then notes, "But I’ve come this far, and if I drop out now, I’ll never get my student loans paid off."

Cauffman is putting herself through college, and it’s not easy.

"No matter how tired I am, I know I have to make a good impression and take care of my table," Cauffman said of her work. "That $5 I might get in tips might be the $5 I need to make rent this month."

Cauffman, who works up to 30 hours a week, is one of thousands of Purdue students trying to pay for college with a minimum wage job. Every year, more and more college students have to work part-time jobs to pay for the ever-increasing tuition and living expenses.

In the last 10 years, as Purdue’s in-state tuition has raised 73 percent, the average student contribution has increased 41.2 percent.

Although there are no statistics on the numbers of students who have part-time jobs, Joyce Hall, director of financial aid, speculates the rising costs of attending college has made more students consider part-time employment.

Although Hall points out that there are a variety of options for paying for school, including scholarships and loans, she realizes that taking a part-time job is a popular option for many students.

For Cauffman, the financial aid that she qualified for was not enough to make ends meet. Her dad, a milkman for Prairie Farms, and her mom, a homemaker, wishes they could contribute more to her education, but they just can’t.

Her student loans help her pay for tuition, but she still has to earn enough money to pay for rent, food, a car and insurance, clothing, toiletries and books.

Cauffman, who has held five different jobs while in college, most recently worked at Purdue libraries and at Hour Time Restaurant in Lafayette. Although she enjoyed the two jobs, the hours often conflicted with her class schedule and she felt like she was missing out.

"On Sundays, I had to get up at 5:30 a.m. to go work, so I never could go out on Saturdays," Cauffman said. "I used to be kind of bitter and I was really, really unhappy."

The crazy work and class schedules left Cauffman changing her clothes in the car, missing classes and putting off important assignments.

All of the work left a tired Cauffman with little time or motivation to study. Her falling grade point average led her to quit both of the jobs so she could waitress at O'Charley’s, which allowed her to work at more convenient times.

Although so far she has managed to pay all of her bills and make it through two years of school, Cauffman fears that one day she may not be able to make all of her bill payments.

"It’s my biggest concern," she said. "I hate money so much."

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