But Fitzsimmons says that decline is the downside of giving undergraduates more flexibility.

"As a former Dorm Crew member myself, I found it a valuable experience," Fitzsimmons says. "But as much as I enjoyed Dorm Crew, the primary purpose of my being at Harvard was in other areas. Our first priority is academics."

Administrators don't know if students are actually working less.

Fitzsimmons notes that overall student earnings were virtually identical last year and the year before, although many students may have already lined up jobs when the program was announced.

But it does mean students don't have to get jobs if they choose not to, especially those just coming to Harvard who do not have established ties to campus jobs.

"Our sense is that fewer of the incoming freshmen felt the need to work," says Martha H. Homer, director of student employment.

Faced with an increasing variety of well-paid on-campus jobs, students aren't choosing Dorm Crew like they used to.

Dorm Crew has always paid more generously than many student jobs, a trend that has continued. The current base salary is $9 per hour, 15 cents higher than last year.