Are the Busy Bees the Smarter ones? A comparison between working and non-working students

Anna Smoak

While many people speculate on the pros and cons of working while in college, many fail to note that a proper balance of work and study can improve grades, and really prepare a student well for life after college.

Yes it is true that working too many hours can take away from either a student's study time or sleep time or even both. But "researchers found that the average GPA of freshmen at four-year universities who worked between one and 20 hours a week was 3.13. Those who didn't work at all had GPAs averaging just 3.04."

Why is this? Students with jobs tend to be more responsible and aware of how they spend their time. They are already efficient at time management which is a large part of college freshman troubles. There could also be other motives for students to get jobs while in college. One could be that the student wants a job they can use to pad their resume. So prospective employers look at them knowing they have had previous work experience. Another reason could be that the students have to work in order to pay their way through college (maybe through a work-study program). And these students wouldn't go through such trouble if they didn't really want to succeed during their college career, therefore they may have a higher GPA than less motivated students.

So while students who work may have higher GPAs than those who don't, it could be because those students who look for work would have a higher GPA anyway, than those who don't. That is to say, getting a job won't necessarily boost your GPA. Try studying harder first.