I am currently a college student and am working in with undergraduate admissions to ensure that incoming freshmen have a smooth transition. Pretty important, right? Well, we get paid $9.00 an hour. (This is a raise from the previous $8.25.) In addition, there are several subcommittees at these jobs, but the members and the heads of these committees do not paid at all for the additional work they do even though they did last year. I quite like my job but think we are severely underpaid for the work we do.
I have looked at other job postings for on campus jobs and have seen similar hourly wages. The highest paid position I have seen pays $11 an hour. Personally, I think these wages are terrible considering the cost of college. I realize that they’re not necessarily intended to pay bills, but these days students need jobs that pay the bills. I know many students working basically full time even though studies show that students do best when working 10-15 hour weeks. But they’re not doing this out of desire, they’re doing this out of necessity. Colleges should recognize this and raise their pay rates.