For my research essay, I will be studying the mental health issues of working college students. With the added pressure of figuring out a way to pay for college or just needing that extra money in their pocket, working college students are struggling more with their mental health than other college students who do not have a job or who don’t have to stress about paying for college. Those who receive more money from Financial Aid or whose parents receive higher income do not have that extra weight on their backs because they do not necessarily need a job to help their parents cover the cost of their tuition or to fulfill their own needs and wants. Even with numerous scholarships, grants, and loans, the college students who are working may still need more money in their pockets to pay their bill or more money to just survive the week, but this also means they have to give up their free-time. Why are the mental health issues of working college students worse than the jobless college students?

1. College Vs. Paycheck

Background: Rainesford Stauffer expresses her point of view when she was a student who was working full-time and was also going to school full-time. Stauffer tells her audience that even with her jobless peers, she understood what it feels like to have a busy schedule and a heavy workload.

How I intend to use it: This is supposed to help explain the perspective of a working college student to people who do not understand the struggle or experience of students who never have enough time for sleep or free time. I will use this as proof that college students actually experience this and struggle with keeping up with their mental health.

2. Not Enough Hours in the Day: Work Study Students and Sleep

Background: Students are not getting enough sleep throughout the week when they are going to school full-time and also working one to two jobs per week. This is affecting their performance in their academics and extracurricular activities.

How I intend to use it: I plan to use this to help explain one of the causes and effects of working and attending college on campus at the same time. There are facts and experiences included in this article that will assist me in proving the issues that are caused by working while going to school full-time such as not sleeping enough and performing poorly in class.

3. Effects of Employment on Stress Levels in College Students

Background: Due to the rising number of working college students, a study took place on working college students versus non-working college students. With the statistics and proof from other articles, the author has gathered reliable information on the stress levels of working college students and goes into depth about other causes of stress and why working college students choose to work.

How I intend to use it: I intend to use this to help me with my reasoning of mental health issues worsening within working college students, and to clarify the causes and affects of stress within this population of students.

4. Pros and Cons of Having a Job on Campus

Background: The pros and cons of having a job while in college are interpreted simply but explained just enough for one to comprehend.

How I intend to use it: I plan to use this to emphasize the cons of having a job while in college while also highlighting the pros and reasons why students get a job in the first place.

5. How to Manage Stress When You Study and Work at the Same Time

Background: The challenges that college students face is added up to show how much time they should commit to their studies, and this time is overextended when they add a 40 hour work schedule to their plate. There is advice and tips given to the readers, who are working college students, to help them manage their mental health and heighten their time management skills.

How I intend to use it: I plan to use this by providing suggestions in my research paper to working college students on how to manage stress and to exaggerate my point that working while going to school takes a lot of work and time. This will also help me explain that it is understood how a majority of college students experience mental health issues for their own reasons, but from the point of view of a working college student, mental health issues are increasing and getting worse within that specific population.