Harvard's first self-supporting student was one Zechariah Bridgen of the class of 1657, who earned his college education by "ringeing the bell and wayting on table." But there was no organized attempt on the part of the University to help find jobs for students until 1896, when the Appointments Office was formed to replace the Appointments Committee, a group of faculty members who only recommended students for jobs in the Boston area, The new office provided a limited number of jobs, but did not operate on a very large scale.
In 1909, President Lowell reported to the alumni that Harvard was "the poor man's college" to a large extent, and pointed out the need for increased scholarship and loan funds. Apparently his report stirred up interest in expanding the student employment program, for the next year a Student Employment Office was organized to provide jobs not only outside the University, but inside as well.
During the 1920's the student employment programs flourished all over the country. Reports circulated about students who had made as much as $4000 in term-time work. At the Student Employment Office here, about one-third of the undergraduates sought work, and most were able to find it.
The depression, however, brought an end to this. There were far fewer than half enough jobs for student applicants in 1932, when only about 340 people could find work. Despite extensive publicity in the Boston papers showing students washing windows, cleaning houses, and minding children, Boston had few jobs to offer, also. Yale restricted its admittance to people who could either pay for their education entirely or who could be guaranteed a job.
But with some federal aid and the continuation of an emergency plan for desperate students, the Employment Office managed to continue its service through the depression years and more than made up for lost ground following the outbreak of World War II.
'Priority' Jobs
Through providing jobs, the Student Employment Program plays a very important part in the financial aid program. The Office of Financial Aid estimates that the average regular or "priority" job nets 350 dollars per year, representing ten or twelve hours of work per week. Summer jobs can be expected to provide at least an equal sum. About 250 freshmen each year are offered "priority" jobs before they get to college, usually as part of a Scholarship grant, but sometimes because they need the money and have not won a scholarship. Casual jobs may net students with some useful talent as much as $300 a year.
The Employment Office is, naturally, a very useful source of labor for the University. During the recent shortages of certain kinds of help, such as secretaries and kitchen workers, the Student Employment Office has often been able to supply qualified students. Whenever the Personnel Office receives notice of a job it feels a student could handle, the request is referred to Student Employment.
But the Student Employment Office does not pride iself so much on being an important part of the University as it does on helping the individual student. Whether it is a matter of lightening a work load to help marks, rescheduling a job to allow time for extracurricular activities, or simply offering personal advice, the Office wants to be helpful. And with this kind of philosophy, it generally is.