Students at St. Olaf college should be paid more than $10.35. Last semester, the College gave everyone a 20-cent raise, but that was pitiful. We should be getting half-dollar raises — heck, let’s make it a dollar! Students in Northfield don’t need the Minneapolis living wage, but $10.35 is absurdly low.
St. Olaf pays students the Minnesota minimum wage for “large employers,” which was raised to $10.33 on Jan 1, 2022, according to the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Although St. Olaf is required to pay at least the minimum wage by the U.S. Department of Education, students should get paid more based on the type of work we do and the higher cost of living that comes with being a student.
First, I want to emphasize the insane amount of time and energy we invest into our campus jobs. A lot of students work for the Center for Advising and Academic Support (CAAS), the admissions office, and the Piper Center. Some of these jobs, like working at the Admissions Office, are high-stakes and require training. Paying students $10.35 per hour to recruit the next generation of Oles? Come on! Plus, some students, including peer advisors and SI leaders, are doing highly specialized work, sometimes even the same kind of work as actual College staff. Yet specialized workers on campus only get paid a whopping $10.60. A measly ¢20 more than the average student, which is clearly not a significant reflection of the extra work they are doing. And for those not participating in specialized work, $10.35 per hour is still too low for students paying for tuition, gas, housing, and textbooks.
Indeed.com claims that the average work study salary in the U.S. is $8.71 per hour. I was shocked to learn St. Olaf students are getting paid more than the national average, but then I remembered that our state’s minimum wage is actually higher compared to other states, which could be a reflection of our state government or an increased cost of living.
Students from the University of Minnesota are also realizing that $10 is not a reasonable wage. According to the Minnesota Daily, students have been protesting to earn Minneapolis wages, which are around $15 per hour, depending on the job. With Minneapolis’ high cost of living, these protests make a lot of sense. Although the cost of living is cheaper in Northfield, low student wages make it hard for students to pay their huge tuition bills.
Every time I work for an hour on campus and I realize that I’ve only made $10, I start to feel a little bit duped. I work at the annual giving office and as a writing desk tutor. For a job that literally makes the College money, and another that requires constant specialized training, $10.35 is just not enough.
I’m not asking the college to pay students $15 an hour, although that would be excellent. But I am asking them to consider giving the students a raise. Even wages closer to $12 an hour would be significantly better than what we currently get paid, and I think the College would see benefits from paying students this amount of money.
The College would likely experience a better job retention rate and create more interest in campus work. This could help stabilize the Caf and make more students interested in specialized training.
If St. Olaf wants to improve the quality of work that comes out of students, then they need to support their student workers with higher wages.
Karen Larionova is from Eden Prairie, Minn.
Her majors are English, Russian, and education.
