Global Hospitality Veteran Rakesh Sarna Explains Why Students Who Pay their Own Tuition Often Enjoy Greater Academic Performance

At first glance, it makes perfect sense for students to try and get as much help as possible paying their tuition. After all, less time spent working at a part-time job should mean more time spent studying. 

However, a study by researchers at University of California found that the opposite was often the case: many students who enjoyed a free financial ride through college did not spend their extra time hitting the books. Instead, they partied, played football, skipped classes, and did what most young adults would be expected to do without structure or supervision. And while all of these students did not drop out, on the whole given their advantages, their academic performance was underwhelming and disappointing to say the least.

And so, does this mean that students who pay at least some of the freight for their college or university tuition stand to boost their academic performance? According to global hospitality veteran  Rakesh Sarna, the answer is a definitive yes.

Individuals who pay for tuition are emotionally invested in their education

Students who pay their own tuition, either entirely or to a significant degree, are not just financially invested in their academic access, but they are also emotionally and psychologically invested in their academic success.  They feel a sense of ownership and obligation, which convinces them to focus on studying instead of partying, playing video games, or doing things that take them further away from their academic goals.In addition, students who support (or at least, subsidize) their higher education journey with a part-time job also have the opportunity to apply what they are learning in the workforce, which adds to their knowledge and motivates them to study that much harder.

For example, students enrolled in business programs who take part-time jobs with a bank or insurance company can glean insights and generate experiences that help them academically, commented Rakesh Sarna, who established a scholarship program that provides financial aid to students attending university or college in the U.S. and Canada pursuing studies in hospitality, marketing, human resources and business: At the same time, they can build important relationship that can serve them very well upon graduation, and further along in their careers.

They have greater time management skills

There is also another important reason why students who pay for their tuition tend to succeed rather than struggle academically: they develop extremely valuable time and task management skills, which helps them stay on top of their responsibilities vs. get overwhelmed by them. 

According to Rakesh Sarna, students with part-time jobs cannot show up when they are in the mood to work — because the second time they do that, they will likely end up without a job. . Fortunately, before that happens most students cultivate time and task management skills that help them stay organized academically as well as vocationally. For example, if they have an important paper due in two weeks, they do not wait until the last day and start panicking, they schedule the workload accordingly. Otherwise, they put both their job and their academic success at risk.

Ultimately, individuals who work to pay for their education are often better equipped to handle the financial and academic pressure that comes with obtaining a formal education.