Over 150,000 students were enrolled full-time in Associate’s and Bachelor’s degree programs in Maryland’s colleges in the fall of 2017. How many of these students were employed while pursuing a degree? Working while in college may help students finance their education as well as provide the opportunity to build work experience that will support their career pursuits after college. However, working while in college may have negative consequences for some students, who may struggle to balance competing demands for their time, encounter scheduling conflicts between work and class, or have limited opportunity to attend faculty office hours or receive tutoring support.
Approximately 34% of the full-time Associate’s and Bachelor’s degree-seeking students[1] at Maryland’s colleges had a wage record during the fall 2017 term[2]. This rate did not vary over the course of the year; 34% of the population had wage records in the fall and spring[3] terms and 33% had wage records for the full calendar year[4]. This means the majority of students with wage records at the start of the academic year continued to work the entire year.
The majority of students (60%) worked in either the Trade, Transportation and Utilities sector[5] or the Leisure and Hospitality sector[5]. These two sectors include retail stores, grocery stores, gyms, restaurants, hotels, movie theaters and other types of businesses rely on part-time employment(34 hours or less). Nationally, 28% of all employees in wholesale and retail positions are part-time, while 41% of employees in leisure and hospitality are part-time[6].
86% of students in the Trade, Transportation and Utilities sector were employed in retail stores, while 76% of students in the Leisure and Hospitality sector were employed in restaurants.
While having a wage record indicates an enrollee is engaged in the workforce, it does not indicate the level of engagement. Some enrollees may have been working full-time for the entire wage period, while others may have been working in a very limited capacity in on-campus jobs.
Another 36% of students who did not have a wage record during the fall 2017 term may have been engaged in the workforce in a way that is not visible in traditional wage data. Approximately 2.5% of students without wage data participated in work-study (a form of federal financial aid), 31% received an institutional scholarship that may have required a work or service commitment, and 2.5% participated in work-study and received an institutional scholarship. Adding this population to those with traditional wage data may mean that as many as 70% of all Associate's and Bachelor's degree-seeking students were engaged in some type of work or service activity while pursuing their degrees full-time.
The sections below explore wage visibility for each type of Maryland college.
The sixteen Community Colleges in Maryland serve a large population of non-traditional students. Click the link above to learn more about wage visibility for enrolled students in Community Colleges.
Maryland's thirteen 4-year public institutions serve a wide range of students. Click the link above to learn more about wage visibility for enrolled students in 4-Year Public Institutions.
Maryland has thirteen State-Aided Independent institutions. These institutions range from large research universities to small liberal arts colleges. Click the link above to learn more about wage visibility for enrolled students in State-Aided Independent Institutions.