The University of Colorado is capping the number of hours student employees can work, in part because of the Affordable Care Act.

This month CU began limiting students who work for the Boulder campus to 50 hours every two weeks, or 25 hours per week, during the fall and spring semesters.

Under the Affordable Care Act, large employers—including colleges and universities—must provide employer-sponsored health insurance to employees who work 30 hours per week or more on average.

Students employed through the Federal Work-Study Program are exempt from this requirement, but all other student employees are not.

Based on rough calculations, it could cost more than $1 million to provide employer-sponsored health insurance to student employees who regularly work more than 30 hours a week, said CU spokesman Ryan Huff.

Though the Affordable Care Act mandate was a factor, Huff said the new policy will help students succeed academically.

“We scrutinize our expenses and strive to keep tuition costs as affordable as possible while still ensuring a strong academic experience,” Huff said. “So analyzing health insurance costs is no different. That’s a factor, but we also want students to be retained and earn their degrees.”

Huff said the majority of students won’t be affected by the policy change. The campus estimates that between 3 and 5 percent of students work 30 or more hours per week on average, he said.

It’s unclear how many students would enroll in an employer-sponsored health insurance plan if given the option. Students are already required by CU to have health insurance; many are covered by their family’s health insurance and others enroll in a university plan that costs $1,695 per semester, or roughly $340 per month.

This year, insurance plans offered to individual faculty and staff members include a high-deductible plan at no cost to the employee, and more extensive coverage for $226 per month. The monthly cost for employees is calculated after factoring in a significant university subsidy—CU covers between two-thirds and all of the monthly cost for individuals, depending on the plan.

Several bills are being reviewed by the House Ways and Means Committee that would exempt student employees from the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate, but for now, the university is mostly avoiding the issue by limiting hours.

Policy

Students are able to work as many hours as they want at non-university jobs, though the campus encourages students to prioritize their academics.

Under the new policy, student employees can work over the summer up to 40 hours per week for CU. The university calculates an employee’s weekly average over a 12-month period, Huff said.

In the past, there was no limit on undergraduate student employee hours. Graduate students have been limited to 20 hours per week during the academic year, though they could seek approval to work more.

Under the new policy, supervisors can request that a student work more than 25 hours per week, but campus departments may have to pay if the student enrolls in an employer-provided health insurance plan.

“If an exception is granted, the student employee may become eligible for employer-provided health insurance under the (Affordable Care Act),” according to the policy. “If that is the case and the employee elects to enroll in the plan, the university may require reimbursement from an individual department for the university’s cost of the health insurance premium.”

Student success

Last fall, Chancellor Phil DiStefano announced his goal of improving CU-Boulder’s six-year graduation rate to 80 percent by 2020.

That rate has hovered around 68 percent for several years, and increased to 70 percent in 2013. The new policy could help even more students graduate on time, according to campus officials.

“Working close to a full-time schedule while also pursuing a regular load of classes can become a barrier to academic success,” Huff said. “Ensuring that our students are committed to their academic goals is very important.”

Fifth-year senior Alisa Nguyen said she isn’t sure the new policy will help students focus more on academics. She said many students work on campus to help pay for tuition and other living expenses, and will be forced to find less-accommodating off-campus jobs.

Nguyen, 22, works three campus jobs to pay for her Boulder apartment, utilities, food, gas and other unexpected expenses. Even with significant financial aid, Nguyen said she expects to graduate with roughly $15,000 in student loan debt.

“Having to live in Boulder and just trying to survive . . . I don’t have any help from my parents for paying rent or any of those things,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen said students who are paying for college on their own have an incentive to finish their degree quickly—it’s less expensive that way.

“I’m sure there is a very, very small percentage of those people who, yes, their (time at CU) is extended because they’re working, but finance is very important while you’re going to school,” she said. “You can’t have bills over your head and at the same time pay tuition when you know the next month you’re not going to have enough to live.”

Huff said there are a variety of financial tools available for students, including classes on money management, loans and grants.

He added that most students won’t be affected by the policy change, and pointed to similar policies at other Pac-12 schools such as Arizona, Arizona State and Oregon. Some schools have even more restrictive caps on student hours, he said.

Graduate student Chris Bopp said last semester he successfully petitioned to get around the 20-hour limit for graduate students, and had been working between 28 and 35 hours per week at several on-campus jobs.

He had also been working at a tech company in Boulder, but quit before the new policy went into effect. Working off-campus made his life more stressful, he said.

“I was assuming that I would be able to work as many hours (on campus) as I could to pay my bills,” said Bopp, 30. “I was pretty annoyed when they said I couldn’t, that they’re dictating how many hours I work. It makes me wonder ‘OK, who’s paying my bills then?'”

Contact Camera Staff Writer Sarah Kuta at 303-473-1106 or kutas@dailycamera.com