Jameson Filston, Campus Carrier Online Editor
“I’m just a broke college student” is a phrase that I have heard slip past the lips of my friends countless times since classes started in August. It seems that college students are perpetually running out of money. Since Berry boasts an employment rate of upwards of 85 percent of its student body, this begs a question: Where does all this money go? If not directly into tuition, where do Berry students choose to spend their money?
U.S. News wrote that the average college student spends much of their income eating off campus. Berry students seem to agree. Freshman Blaire Painter spends most of her money on groceries and extra food.
“I like to make a lot of stuff in my dorm,” Painter said.
She says this is because D-hall gets old, and it is difficult to make her way to Krannert from her room in Ford.
Junior Sidney McAdams also spends most of his money on food. He doesn’t have an unlimited meal plan, so he buys his food off campus.
According to U.S. News, clothes are another way in which college students spend money. Both students agreed, citing clothes as a top-five purchase in their everyday lives.
Painter also spends much of her money on entertainment, such as events on campus.
While all this spending is fun, it can drain through a student’s money quickly. Painter expresses her regret at the amount of money she spends.
“I need to cut down on the extra stuff,” she said.
However, she does save money, and all the money from her job on campus goes toward her tuition. The money that she does spend comes from a summer job.
McAdams also saves his money. He prefers to limit his larger spending areas to more essential items such as school supplies and toiletries.
Both students have always had enough money to get most items that they need or want.
A big difference from the norm for Berry students is Berry’s unique student work program, which guarantees students a job. This means that Berry students in particular may have money to spend. The main variable is how these students choose to use that money.
Some students directly deposit their paycheck into tuition. Others keep the whole thing. Either way they make a decision on how to use their resources. From jobs on and off campus, a fair amount of money flows through a college student’s hands, whether they realize that or not.
Gas was mentioned as a spending factor at the bottom of McAdams’ list. This shows another unique aspect of the culture at Berry. Berry promotes an active lifestyle that includes biking or walking to class. This lifestyle, along with Berry’s policy that most students must live on campus, cuts down on the transportation costs of many students.
Although students complain about their lack of funds, most have enough spending money to get what they need and get most things that they want. Students are not broke, but are rather always spending or saving.