Below is a copy of an article that recently appeared in the Dover-Sherborn Press.

College students speak frankly on economic realities

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Joe Freeman, Curly Glynn, Lucy Trainor, Maria Trainor, Amy Glynn and Justin Dunn. Missing from the picture are: Kasey Hartnett, Tim Fledderjohn, Tim Herrold, Mah Herrold, Alysa Cote, Mike Randa, Nicole Bresnahan and Chris Tucker.     (Sherborn Dollars for Scholars)

         During college break for the holidays, while most students were sleeping in late and enjoying the comforts of being home, a group of local college students met to “talk turkey” about the realities of being a college student these days. Amy Glynn, Joe Freeman, Lucy Trainor, Andrew “Curly” Glynn, Justin Dunn and Maria Trainor, all of them 2006 recipients of Sherborn Dollars for Scholars scholarships, met with SDFS President Mary Dunn to talk about how they manage the independence of college life, including budgeting, work and internships. All of the students admitted that what you learn first when you go to college is that it costs a lot more than you would ever think.

        Curly Glynn, a senior theater and philosophy major at Boston College, put it this way: “There are lots of hidden expenses when you go to college. The paradox is that if you want to get the most out of your college experience, it is going to cost a lot more than just the tuition.”

        Most of the students at the meeting admitted that living in Sherborn and attending Dover-Sherborn High School didn’t really prepare them for the economic reality of independent living. As Curly Glynn put it, “Dover-Sherborn cultivates students who jump into every activity, so when we go to college we get involved. The problem is that students who go off to college need to be prepared for no longer being the best. You are no longer a big fish in a small pond. One of the most surprising things for me was starting at the beginning and working myself up. That experience gave me perspective and made me concentrate on what I really wanted to do with my life.”

Lots of hidden expenses

        Justin Dunn, a senior at Colby College, added that students entering college for the first time should adopt a “business mentality.” That kind of thinking, Curly Glynn agreed, makes lots of sense. “Colleges think of students as an incredible business,” he said. “That business involves tuition, room and board and fees. Boston College costs $45,000 per year, and that does not take care of food, clothing, books, transportation or supplies. There are a lot of hidden expenses.”

For these college students, a big part of managing the business of going to college has been finding ways to fund the hidden expenses. Those hidden expenses depend on the school, the location and on the student’s career goals.

        For senior Lucy Trainor, a women’s studies major at Barnard College in New York City, the challenge is finding an economical way to live in an expensive city. Like her sister, Maria, and Curly’s sister, Amy, both freshmen, Lucy enjoyed her first college year, taking core courses, meeting people with different experiences and nationalities. What Lucy has found, however, is that her focus now is very different from what it was four years ago. “For me, the most important thing about being a senior is learning to be independent and on my own.”

        Lucy, who wants to stay in Manhattan once she graduates, said independence includes living economically, getting to know the city, finding affordable ways to do things and learning to travel on the subway. In addition to working at summer jobs, Lucy works during the school year at a nonprofit center for research at Barnard, and she also has a full-time internship funded through a grant. Lucy considers herself lucky because she gets paid for her internship work. “You have to do internships,” Lucy said. “You need the internship for your resume.”

        Looking down the road to graduation, Lucy said, “Being out of college is going to be scary. Working for books and entertainment expenses is something very different from paying rent.”

Juggling school and work

        Like Lucy, Justin and Curly juggle two or three jobs in addition to school work. Both Justin and Curly work through work-study programs, which have restrictions for the student. “If you work through a work-study program,” said Curly, “you are limited in the number of hours you are allowed to work, which is usually from 12 to 20 hours per week. It’s convenient work because you are on campus, but the pay is not that great.”

        Justin agreed about the low pay, but he is one of the few students who are allowed to work more hours than the normal limit. His work-study is in the scene shop at Colby College’s theater. Justin said that it is very important with work-study employment to keep accurate count of the hours you work so that you will be paid properly. Curly agreed and described his own situation: “At Boston College, there are more faculty and staff employees than there are work-study students. You have to not only keep track of your hours and make sure you work within the limits of your hours and get the hours right, but you also have to keep accurate records for audits of the work-study program.”

School, location, major affect costs

        While Lucy finds economical transportation in New York’s subway system, Curly finds that transportation in Boston is a very big expense for him. As a theater major, Curly attends evening performances and also works several jobs in the industry. In addition to being a paid note-taker at school and an acting camp instructor during the summer, he works at a box office and is a house manager for shows. Curly’s theater jobs require him to work beyond the hours that the Boston transit system operates, so Curly must take taxis when he can’t get a ride. “That’s a big expense for me. To develop my contacts, I need to work late, and sometimes that includes going to dinner with my professors after the theater. College is a time to make career connections. If you make an impression with your professors, it can help you later on with your career.”

        Adding to the financial pressures to theatre students like Curly is the up-front money students need to purchase script rights. “When I put on ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show,’ I had to pay $1,300 of my own hard cash for the rights, until I got reimbursed long after the show was over.” Also, Curly must pay union dues to the Screen Actors Guild. “In the theater field, you need to be in SAG,” he said.

        Even for college freshmen, there are often big expenses that will sap the cash flow. Maria Trainor said that even when students pay activities fees, that doesn’t always cover the costs for participation. There are a lot of extra expenses that you never think of when you pay your college bill. For Maria, one of the surprises was additional expenses associated with crew activities. “When we go out on regattas, we have to pay our expenses up front, and later on we get reimbursements when we turn in our receipts.” 

        For some students, what is not on the tuition and fees bill makes a big difference in the budget. George Washington University freshman Amy Glynn said the problem is not just transportation and personal expenses, which are not covered in the school bill, but also her daily food expenses. “At George Washington University, we don’t have a meal plan or a kitchen to prepare meals, so we have to budget for our food, as well as our clothing and transportation.”

        For Justin, even when schools provide a meal plan, that usually disappears by the time one is a senior. “By senior year, you probably will have an apartment and no meal plan at all,” he said. “Going to college requires accepting that responsibility.”

        While big cities like Boston and New York can really strain a student’s budget, some students find they can make ends meet by going to schools in smaller towns, and working close to home. Joe Freeman, Roger Williams College sophomore, works at Sherborn’s Eaton Apothecary during summers and holiday breaks. Like Joe, Justin, also works local jobs during the summer, including landscaping and construction. As a Colby College government major, with minors in education and anthropology, Justin also has managed to squeeze in an internship with Massachusetts state Rep. David Linsky last summer. While the experience was extremely valuable, Justin said that it was hard juggling both kinds of work at the same time. “It’s tough when you have to make money, and you also need to do an internship,” he said.

Lessons in money, time management

        Curly agreed that the experiences with managing time and money are not easy. However, he feels these college experiences really make you learn to be independent. “When you are struggling to pay for school, it makes you learn quickly how to manage your finances. I never truly learned the struggles of money when I was going to Dover-Sherborn. Boy, did I learn quickly when I went away to college. I got a job and also a work-study. I got a credit card that pays me back 1 percent of what I spend, and I got a bank account, and I set up a 5 percent IRA.”

        Justin also said that early college experiences make realize that college life is expensive, but he also said that by the time a student reaches junior or senior level, there is more time to do outside work to earn money and develop a career. “The upper classes meet fewer times each week, for longer periods.” This gives students much more time for work and career development. “Enjoy college while you can,” said Dunn. “Before long, you’ll be out of college without a program to back you up.” 

        Every student at the meeting said that college was an incredible experience. Christopher Tucker, a freshman attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was not able to be at the meeting, but he sent his thoughts in a note. “In high school, we were taught facts,” Chris said. “Now I have the opportunity to learn real skills that have practical applications. That and my new independence are the two things I am most grateful for. For both, I find myself indebted to the kindness of Sherborn Dollars for Scholars for its part in helping to make my amazing experience possible.”