The Work-Study Economy
Immigration enforcement has created labor shortages in industries from restaurants to health care, as today’s New York Times reports. Policy thinkers suggest expanding work-study could transform higher education into a source of contingent labor. Yet serious students often struggle to balance work and study—I once worked on campus as an undergraduate but avoided jobs in graduate school for this reason. Still, working while enrolled has become mainstream. Federal data from 2020 showed about 40% of full-time and 74% of part-time undergraduates held jobs during term time. A 2025 report now estimates nearly 70% of U.S. students are working, suggesting employment has increased considerably in the last five years, often at the expense of study time. The trend echoes findings abroad, with UK surveys showing similar jumps in student employment after the pandemic.
Further Reading: New York Times coverage | Genio report summary
Medieval manuscript, Baker with his apprentice. Bodleian Library, Oxford. Public domain.