Hillary Clinton thinks we should work through college
Do you think a part time job can pay for tuition?
Last week during the first Democratic debate, former Senator and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, who also happens to be the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for President, made some remarks with regard to making college more affordable.
Here’s what she said: “My plan would enable anyone to go to a public college or university tuition free. You would not have to borrow money for tuition.
“But I do believe – and maybe it’s because I worked when I went through college, I worked when I went through law school – I think it’s important for everybody to have some part of getting this accomplished.
“That’s why I call it a compact. But, yes, I would like students to work 10 hours a week.”
So we decided to hit up Morningside campus and one of the popular local watering holes to get people’s opinions on that statement to see if maybe, just maybe, HRC was being a little insensitive. Here’s what they had to say.
Lance, 25, Math and Economics
I do work 10-12 hours a week and it barely covers my groceries for the week. I do not think college students, especially Ivy League University students can work their way through college.
Dan, 26, Economics
I only think that reflects on her age and how out of touch with reality she is. She spent too long in the political sphere in Washington and it’s kind of clouded her reality, or sense of reality with people actually working. I think she is completely out of touch with what the average college student faces today.
Austin #1, 23, Teachers College, Clinical Psychology
Working 10 hours a week for a college student would be plausible but that’s saying that they would have to go to a public institutions, a lot of public institutions aren’t quite as good as private schools. So anybody that wanted to go to a school like Columbia, Harvard….they wouldn’t be able to do that.
Do you feel like she’s being insensitive to college students?
I do.
Mary, 23, School of Public Health, Epidemiology
I think that working 10 hours is feasible and I think it’s important for people to learn how to lessen their burden, lessen their loan burden, to figure out how to do what you want educationally as well as finance yourself. I know lots of people that work 20-30 hours during college and they made it work.
Insensitive?
I think she’s being very reasonable. I think when you’re in college you’re learning a lot of other life lessons, not just your education, you are learning how to manage your finances and work for what you want.
Austin #2, 26, Sustainable Development
I don’t think if you are going to a major university, outside of a public university, that you could support yourself on a part time job or even full time job. I’m lucky to be on the G.I. Bill, which covers 95 percent of everything, but I’m still paying out of pocket.
Insensitive?
I think she’s working under an assumption that isn’t this generation’s reality.
Kerry, 21, Operations Research and Computer Science
As an athlete I dedicate over 20+ hours to my sport, and I’m stretched thin enough going to Columbia trying to get good grades, find a job, I personally don’t have time to work. I already don’t go to bed until two or three in the morning. I just think it would be infeasible for student athletes.
Insensitive?
I don’t think she’s being insensitive. Some people just don’t have the study habits to work 10 hours a week. Everyone is different.
Jason, 28, Political Science
I think it’s very complicated to break it down that simply. Students should have options available to make college more affordable but they should also be realistic about choosing what school to go to, financially speaking.
Insensitive?
I don’t think so, she might be out of touch though. Being in her position in government, far removed from the college campus landscape.
Dalitso, 23, Psychology
I worked my way through college. I think its something that most college students should do. Like if you’re not working your way through college you have the easy life right there.
I worked consistently 30-40 hours a week at least every single week that I’ve been at Columbia, just because I need to pay rent, I need to pay my phone bill, I need to pay EVERYTHING.
I’m a working student that goes to school full time, working 30-40 hours a week, commuting in from Brooklyn which is like an hour and half commute one way.
Insensitive?
How is it insensitive to say you should work through school? That’s how you gain life experience.
Sam, 29, Financial History
I believe Hillary Clinton has a point that universities at some point should be free however I don’t think she understood the rising cost of tuition to the degree that it has shot up.
Faster than any other major expenditure in the United States. I do agree a compact would work however it might be insensitive to students at a variety of universities such as Columbia where you’re paying 60k a year.
Therefore to a degree I think she was being insensitive in some of her remarks without thinking of taking in the whole situation, however if she thinks some universities should be free, public universities would make sense.
Ben, 24, Economics
To some degree I feel like her statement is slightly insensitive to college students. I don’t think she necessarily understands the difficulty of paying for college as a working class student.
Now perhaps in a public university where you are paying significantly lower tuition, maybe working 10 hours a week would be enough to fulfil your financial obligation to your university.
To some degree it seems like she’s out of touch with the actual cost that colleges place on students both on a tuition side and in a general cost of living.
So where I would like to agree with her that college should be made more affordable, I don’t think 10 hours a week is gonna do it.