For sophomore civil engineering major Syad Ameer Mahmoud Shah, working at USF as an international student was more than just a financial opportunity – it was a necessity to secure his citizenship.
Having moved from Pakistan to attend college in the U.S., Shah said he knew he needed to find a job on campus to fulfill the requirements of his F-1 visa, which requires international students to find campus jobs that employ them for a maximum of 20 hours a week.
Despite working for USF’s hospitality department for close to a year, Shah said he only recently received his first promotion, increasing his pay from his starting pay of $12 an hour to $15. However, affording basic necessities such as groceries, rent and other everyday costs still remains a constant struggle regardless of his raise, according to Shah.
Florida’s minimum wage increased from $10 to $11 as part of the state’s plan to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026, according to the Labor Law Center. However, despite requiring an upwards of $2,270 a month to afford basic living expenses, a majority of college students report earning less than $15 an hour at their current on-campus jobs, according to The Hill.
In addition to his regular expenses for living costs, Shah said inflation has massively impacted not only the cost of living, but his fear for future job prospects. The price increases he has noticed during his regular visits to the grocery store to purchase food for the week are things Shah said has...
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