Written By Taymara Tait

There is a question one must ask about student employment:should student employees receive benefits such as healthcare? Well, President Barack Obama has brought that question into consideration.

According to The Affordable Care Act (ACA), which begins in the year 2015, student employees who don’t work 30 hours per week will not receive healthcare.

This is not right. Students have a heavy load as it is. For many students, working is just a way of life and many need their jobs to support themselves.

Student employees are “real employees.” After all, working on a college campus is considered a job, is it not?

The fact that lawmakers would exempt universities from this act is inconsiderate. At least U.S. Representative Meadows is on board with the college student perspective. A bill called the ‘Student Worker Exemption Act of 2014’ argues against the ACA.

Some college students don’t necessarily have the financial help from parents and family and in an effort to support themselves, they resort to working. This is another reason why student employee hours on the job should not be cut under the ACA.

Although it is argued it is not technically in the budget to provide student workers with such benefits as healthcare among universities, the thought should not be completely out of range.

In the ongoing battle, the status quo on whether or not students only have their jobs based on the stigma ‘it’s a part of the college experience’ should change. Every student employee is different and not every employee is under the age of 26 where most young adults choose to stay on their parents insurance.

When it comes to student workers, if they exceed the 30-hour window as an employee, then it is only right they should receive benefits based on their status and not on their stigma of just being a working college kid.