When Molly McGrath isn’t at class, she splits her time between her two jobs.
The nursing junior works in the pediatric outpatient clinic at Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital and behind the counter of Melting Moments Homemade Ice Creams, 313 E. Grand River Ave.
McGrath is part of a growing number of college students who work 25 hours or more per week, according to a recent report by the State Public Interest Research Groups’ Higher Education Project.
Of the 46 percent of students who spend more than 25 hours at their jobs, 42 percent said the job hurts their grades.
With an average of 15 credits per semester, and up to 25 hours split between her two jobs, McGrath said she keeps a busy schedule.
But she said she doesn’t mind.
“I’m a pretty ambitious person,” she said. “If I have too much free time I end up procrastinating.”
McGrath said the key to running a schedule like hers is time management.
“I think I’d die without my planner,” she said. “Some people get overwhelmed - it stresses them out too much.”
But McGrath said she is lucky in that she is not working to pay her way through college.
“I’m not being forced,” she said. “I have fun at work. I don’t think of it as a job.”
The study also reported that 20 percent of full-time students who work spend more than 35 hours per week at work.
Megan Owens, spokeswoman for the group’s Michigan organization, said the typical student spends up to 45 hours every week on coursework in addition to their time at work.
“That means really struggling just to get by,” she said.
Gale Gower, assistant director of MSU’s Student Employment Office, said the university has a cap on the number of hours its student employees can work.
Students working for the university are limited to 29 hours per week, she said.
“Students are here to get an education,” she said. “That should be their first interest.”
MSU hires more than 18,000 students every year in jobs across campus.
Working on campus enables many students to be more flexible with their schedules, Gower said.
Andrea Bray works no more than 15 hours per week at Pita Pit, 219 E. Grand River Ave.
“I plan my time wisely,” she said. “I don’t have time to work that much.”
Bray, who has worked at Pita Pit for about one year, said she is carrying 15 credit hours and that she works to pay for books and her membership in sorority Pi Beta Phi.
“I like being busy,” she said. “I feel like I get work done better if I keep myself busy.”
Bray always has had a job while in college. She’s worked at Gumby’s Pizza, Little Caesar’s Pizza and Breslin Center. Keeping busy keeps her calm, she said.
“I choose not to get too stressed,” she said. “I don’t think it’s worth it to get worked up over schoolwork.”
