The Student Employment Office announced in a March 3 email that the hourly minimum wage for all non-union student workers will increase to $16.25 from $11.50 beginning on March 19 — the start of the first student pay period of the spring term. The minimum wage for tipped workers will also rise to $7.31 per hour from $5.18.
Both new figures represent an approximately 40% increase from the previous minimum wage. The College calculated the increase by applying the percentage increase that student dining workers recently received, according to College spokesperson Diana Lawrence.
According to the SEO website, employers will be expected to review updated guidelines for a recommended hourly rate when assessing their new student wages. Based on these guidelines, students whose current wages are at or over the new minimum may also see a change in their pay rate.
Lawrence added that the wage increase will not affect financial aid awards but will make it easier for students to meet the work-study requirements in their financial aid packages.
“It just means that students will earn the money more quickly — they will need to work fewer hours to meet the personal obligations in their financial aid package,” Lawrence wrote in an email statement.
The increase comes on the heels of a successful campaign by the Student Worker Collective at Dartmouth to raise the wage of Dartmouth Dining Services student workers to $21 per hour. Lawrence wrote that the College is also conducting a review of non-student employee pay scales.
