Working through financial strife

With the costs of tuition, books and other fees, college can be a huge and often insurmountable investment. In addition to those costs many Yuba College students have the further expenses of insurance, gas, car maintenance and rent. Thus, it is no surprise that one state research group sited on cnn.com found that in 1999- 2000 64 percent of all college students graduated with student loan debt averaging $16,928.

The question is: “how can we be safe from the pressures of getting into such financial difficulties?” The answer for many of our students could lie in the Yuba College Job Placement Office, a resource that could help students begin to become self-sufficient and stay debt free.

One program maintained largely by the Job Placement Office, in addition to the financial aid office is the Financial Work Study Program, which is a federally funded program designed to help students gain work experience while financing their educations. Students who qualify for this program are eligible to receive an on-campus job, with the advantage of supervisors who are sensitive to the time constraints of students and are thus willing to be flexible with employees’ schedules.

Although not all Yuba College students qualify for this program, all students can benefit from the resources available at the Job Placement Office. This office can help students as well as any members of the local community to find jobs all over California and neighboring states that have been announced directly by the companies. The Job Placement office is also available to teach resume writing skills, give mock interviews and allows students to use internet capabilities to access job finding websites.

Judy Lawhorn, Job Developer at the Yuba College Job Placement Office, believes that there are many students not currently using the center who could greatly benefit from its resources. Her message to them is to simply “come in and see what’s available”.

To use the Job Placement office’s assets, students can visit any time between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5p.m. located in the 100 building. For further information students can reach the office directly at (530) 741- 6790.