Understanding the Working College Student: New Research and Its Implications for Policy and Practice

“Groundbreaking in its inclusive treatment of a contemporary phenomenon in the undergraduate experience...[this book] is a comprehensive resource that should interest a variety of readers across a wide range of institutional contexts and settings...particularly scholars and practitioners who aim to carve out future topics for research and create responsive practice.”―Journal of College Student Development

"With this in-depth, comprehensive collection of recent research, editor Laura W. Perna draws much-needed attention to the needs of the growing share of students who work. The collection emphasizes the significant contributions that policymakers and educators could make by creating academic cultures, education initiatives, and financial practices that acknowledge the reality of work in students' lives. It also underscores the importance of using work as a lever for increasing student engagement. The book is an important resource for anyone considering how economics can and could affect student success."―Diversity and Democracy

“Critical for administrators and board members as we assess our effectiveness at meeting the needs of working students and our expectations for timely degree completion.” –Kevin D. Rome, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, North Carolina Central University

This book offers the most complete and comprehensive conceptualization of the “working college student” available. It provides a multifaceted picture of the characteristics, experiences, and challenges of working college students and a more complete understanding of the heterogeneity underlying the label “undergraduates who work” and the implications of working for undergraduate students’ educational experiences and outcomes. It raises important questions for public policymakers, college administrators, faculty, academic advisors, student services and financial aid staff, and institutional and educational researchers.

Laura W. Perna is an associate professor of higher education the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. Her current scholarship focuses on understanding the ways that public and institutional policies enable and restrict college access and success especially for students from underrepresented minority groups and from low socioeconomic backgrounds.

Glenn DuBois