It should come as no shock to anyone to hear that the cost of living in America is consistently on the rise: according to the U.S. Census Bureau, a metric such as the cost of monthly rent was sitting at a median of $602 in the year 2000. That has now jumped to $1,413 as of data collected in 2024.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a simple grocery item such as a gallon of milk has gone up by a whole dollar on average, costing $3.02 in 2006 and now, on average, running the regular customer $4.23.
Every week for months now, people drive through our local town of Radnor and see the price on the local Sunoco gas station go up and up: $3.99, $4.09, $4.19, $4.29. The most recent time I passed it, I saw customers being charged $4.49 a gallon for regular gas – not premium! The key factor: wages aren’t being raised at the same rates. The federal minimum wage is currently sitting where it has been for 17 years: at $7.25, and price hikes are quickly catching up to wage adjustments that the market makes naturally.
All these issues begin to beg the question of how rising costs would affect normal students. Does the population of Eastern feel any squeeze, and is the school providing resources to aid its students?
I talked to many different students, and it seems to be highly different from situation to situation based on the needs and responsibilities of each student. For example, sophomore Nathan Kulp works around 20 hours a week working at the local Wegmans, which is standard commitment for a student worker since Eastern caps student hours at 20 per week. He works in the dairy section of the store, and pre-taxes earns $20 an hour. To many, that may seem like the big bucks (it certainly did to me when I first heard him say that!), but he quickly explained that most of that money goes down the drain as it is sunk into paying for his car. Transportation, especially for students who commute, is a serious financial commitment, and even for residential students it can take up a lot of their budget.
Senior Abigail McNair specifically noted that despite having two jobs on campus (earning money as an assistant to the Dean for Fine and Performing Arts and as a member of the Turning Point Select Choir), she finds that the cost of gas is what most of her wages cover. She didn’t object much to affordability around the Eastern campus however, stating that they give you enough resources to get by.
A big factor that applies to affordability, however, is student responsibility for tuition and loans. Senior Joseph Gonzalez, for example, explained that he worked as a barista for a while at the local Starbucks and earned $16.50 an hour, working about 15 hours a week, and since he had also taken out loans to pay for tuition, it was more than enough to pay for monthly expenses such as his car insurance and gas and have some extra money left over to save or spend on fun things. However, his new responsibilities this year as an RA have changed the situation.
He no longer has the time to work outside of campus due to Resident Life responsibilities, and only receives the $14 an hour, twice a week that Turning Point Choir students usually receive.
While room and board are now less due to working for ResLife, all other monthly expenses are far more difficult to accomplish. He also stated that he has done research on apartments in the local area, and has definitively concluded that living in the dorms is less expensive than living in a local apartment.
Senior Steph Philemon would also concur with Gonzalez’s statements, simply saying: “As a student, there’s always going to be an amount you have to pay for school, but compared to the area [Radnor], especially living alone, it’s very expensive.” He works overnight shifts at the local Wawa for $19.90 an hour (pre-tax).
At the end of the day, affordability for students can often look different depending on what needs a student has. Are you a commuter like Kulp? Then yes, you may have a smaller bill for college, but that relief is quickly neutralized when you realize that the high price of gas, insurance and more often than not car payments lands on your shoulders and classes will affect your work schedule.
If you are a residential student like McNair, you certainly have a higher bill to pay, but being strategic with things like your meal plan and having a job on campus or nearby can often help, provided you aren’t personally shouldering the weight of your own tuition and board costs. But all students had a common theme throughout the conversations I had with them: It’s stressful and difficult now to manage and it only seems like it will be worse once they graduate and begin to experience “real life.” So, do local wages cover students’ needs? Is life on campus affordable? Barely, somehow, for most people. They make a way by working hard.
