Editorial: Make student jobs optional

We believe it is a normative ideal that all students have an equal chance to succeed academically and participate in extracurricular and social activities. In line with this ideal, Princeton as a community recognizes that a student’s socioeconomic background and familial ability to pay should not influence a student’s ability to receive a Princeton education. This is why we have such a generous financial aid policy in the first place.

Insofar as this form of equality among students is desirable, we believe it is fundamentally unfair that some members of the Princeton population must either devote nine hours per week to often non-substantive campus jobs or take loans to cover the contribution that could endanger their future financial well-being. These students could have spent these nine hours studying or participating in social or extracurricular activities. Clearly, this requirement places a burden on aid students that disadvantages them relative to their peers. Because a student’s financial aid status reflects no personal defect — only his or her family’s ability to pay — treating these students differently than wealthier students is unfair and inconsistent with the accepted egalitarian principles of financial aid that already seek to minimize the impact of a student’s socioeconomic background.

Replacing the campus job requirement with grants would benefit the many students who receive financial aid, giving them more time to study and take advantage of the opportunities Princeton offers. Furthermore, this change would also benefit non-aid students and the campus community as a whole: when several thousand students have nine more hours to study or participate in extracurricular activities, the campus is enlivened with better contributions in precepts and more vibrant student groups. Optional campus jobs could still be maintained for those who wish to earn additional income.

Additionally, Princeton’s institutional goals would be greatly served by this initiative. In 2001, Princeton led the nation with the first ‘no-loan’ financial aid policy, which was soon emulated by many of its peer institutions. In doing so, Princeton furthered its long-standing goal of increasing the socioeconomic diversity of its student body. Princeton, with the highest per capita university endowment in the world, has the opportunity to take the lead once again by capitalizing on its unique resources and dramatically increasing its attractiveness to prospective students who require financial aid.

Furthermore, Princeton’s overall yield would increase. A prospective student choosing between Princeton and a peer institution would certainly be swayed by the knowledge that he would not be required to spend nine hours every week working a campus job. The University would attract and matriculate a greater percentage of high achieving students from underprivileged backgrounds.

Back of the envelope calculations show that implementing this policy would require Princeton’s financial aid budget to increase by 5-10%. We believe this is a small price to pay for the many benefits of replacing mandatory campus jobs.