Beth Delorit, a Weinberg and Music freshman, spends nine to 12 hours every week taking tickets, handing out programs, helping patrons and listening to concerts at her work-study job at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall.
“There are a lot of benefits to this job,” Delorit said. “Instead of paying for (concert) tickets, you get paid to watch.”
But Delorit’s job at Pick-Staiger means more than watching free concerts. It’s part of her Northwestern financial aid package.
“I couldn’t survive without the money,” she said. “I mean, I really couldn’t.”
A record high 47 percent of college freshmen expect to work during the academic year, according to a national survey recently released from the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Rebecca Dixon, associate provost of university enrollment, said she has no information to signify that NU followed the national trend of an increase in work-study students. According to Dixon, the number of work-study students generally remains steady because the money for work-study comes from government funds that don’t change much from year to year.
“I mean, they give us a couple hundred thousand (dollars) more,” Dixon said. “But they don’t give us a million more. We’ve been getting work-study funds for so long, and we have a big amount.”
NU awarded about $70 million dollars in student financial aid this year, part of a steady annual increase in financial aid spending. The majority of this money comes from NU grants, but it also includes some government funds.
Dixon estimated that 60 percent of NU students qualify for some sort of financial aid, but she couldn’t estimate how many of that those were offered work-study.
Some of the more popular NU employers are Norris University Center, the University Library, biology labs and off-campus sites such as the YMCA and America Reads. Others choose non-work-study jobs at local restaurants and stores.
Medill sophomore Adaku Onyeka said she thinks NU is very generous with its financial aid because the university met her family’s need.
