A report from The Huffington Post discusses the issue of lack of sleep among college students, which is compounded in the case of work study students.
While many students do work while on campus, for this group of students, it is a requirement for them to attend their universities. While only 6% of students participate in the Federal Work Study Program, approximately 20 million students attend college in the United States, so the policies of this program, and their enforcement, affect 1.2 million students nationwide.
In addition to having to work while on campus, these students are required to find their own job, or jobs as the case may be, as many jobs will not dole out enough hours for students to meet their quota. In addition, once at these jobs, the students are also subject to some of the same pitfalls as those who work in the private sector. Take my own university, Wesleyan, for example. In 2014, an article in the Argus was published stating that “Farias, [an administrator], determined last year that nearly 80 students work above the recommended 20-hour limit, with some working up to 40 hours in a single week.” These students were working a full-time job, while attending classes, doing homework, attending extracurricular events and finding internships and jobs for after graduation. I can’t imagine sleeping a full eight hours on top of that.
