Aspects of Student Life Through The Years
By examining each decade on these plots, the story becomes clear. Starting with the 1980s, the total student enrollment was relatively small at 8,688 students (as of fall 1987). Tuition was an astoundingly low $1,050.00/semester (for in-state students, calculated average of tuition for the entire decade), and there were an estimated 4,580 students in RSOs (as of 1997). Of the students that attended A-State during the 1980s that were polled, 60% had jobs while in school and 90% felt that they had an adequate amount of free time during the week and weekends. As this was a period of economic growth, we can infer that this led to the low cost of tuition and (relatively) low rates of students with jobs. Students, not having to work as much to pay for school or make pocket money, now had free time to join clubs, which at the time had largely political and activist mindsets.
Moving to the 1990s brings an increase in student enrollment to 10,112 (as of fall 1997), tuition to a $1,737.40/semester for in-state students average for the decade, 5300 students in clubs (1997), 66% students working, and 83% enjoying adequate free time (as per survey). A steady economic decade and technological advancements meant great strides for the university and students. These came in the form of computers, cell phones, and additions to the staff to provide their expertise with the new technologies.
The 2000s brought 10,896 students (fall 2007), tuition was $5,177.50/semester for in-state students, 6,118 students in organizations (2007), 70% of students polled were working and only 33% of students thought they had adequate free time. As the new technologies from the 90s became commonplace, students were having to work not only to afford school but to buy a laptop and pay their cell phone bill. We can also infer that as the internet brought the information of millions of scholarly texts to your fingertips, students were expected to read, study, and research more than ever before. The amount of scholarships being awarded during these years was also increasing, which means students spend even more time studying to maintain required GPA's for scholarships. This amount of working and homework/studying is what brought the feeling of free time down so dramatically.
Finally, the 2010s have given A-State 14,125 students (in the 2017 fall semester), tuition for in-state students has been an average $6,014.80/semester for the first eight years of the decade, and there are 7,160 students in clubs on campus. From the poll, 72% of students that graduated/are attending A-State in this decade are working, and 32% feel they have adequate free time. This could be due to the job market being so competitive and requiring a degree, years of experience, and a large skill set that students get through spending all their time studying, working, and joining clubs. Some of the same issues as the decades before us prevail; we are still fighting as activists, coming to terms with new (sometimes university-required) technologies, and the expectation that we will understand a large percentage of what our courses are supposed to teach us before we even start the semester.
In conclusion, the students of each decade from the 1980s to the present have faced challenges and worked to overcome the issues facing themselves, the university, the economy, and the society they are living in. However, once they graduated, they no longer had to juggle these issues as well as doing well in school and paying for it/the attached expenses. So now, we are left to deal with all the previously faced issues while performing this juggling act. Who knows what sort of issues will be faced by those who attend in the next decade, or what they can infer about us through all of our statistics and history.
