It’s a busy afternoon at Henry’s. Art hangs along the walls, enhanced by soft, low lighting. Relaxing music plays overhead, and the baristas operate the coffee machines with confidence and charm.

But the coffee shop’s tranquil atmosphere belies the lives of its employees. For Josh Barker, Hamilton senior, work doesn’t come to a close when Henry’s hours do. After closing time, Barker empties the espresso machine, takes out the trash, sweeps, restocks, adds up the credit card receipts, brings all the chairs inside, cleans the restrooms, and prepares for the next day. Only then is he able to go home, relax, and focus on other things, like schoolwork and his relationship.

Barker also works as a bouncer at Wilde’s Chateau and is a creative writing major enrolled in 15 credit hours. He says that balancing two jobs with school is difficult but necessary because of his living expenses and tuition costs. And he’s just one of many students across the country working their way through college. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, about 45 percent of full-time college students and 79 percent of part-time college students were employed in 2008. And the American Council on Education, using data from a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, shows that two-thirds of working students find employment in order to be able to pay for their tuition, fees, and living expenses. However, sometimes there’s a greater cost, and it’s one that a paycheck can’t absolve; students with jobs have to figure out how to juggle work with school, and it’s not always an easy feat.

Last spring, Barker picked up a job to pay for rent. But once his work hours started to affect his academic performance, he dropped some of his classes and lost his scholarship, causing him to have to work another job to pay for tuition.

This cycle was difficult for him to overcome, and he says that it took time for him to figure out how to be a student and work at the same time.

He realized he had to find a routine, one that adhered to his schoolwork, his jobs, and his personal life. He honed his time management skills and created a daily schedule so that he could stay on top of school and work. On a weekday that goes according to plan, Barker will fill the daylight hours with going to class, working out, and doing some homework before he clocks in. And Henry’s, he says, is a good environment, where he’s able to develop beneficial relationships with his fellow employees, the customers, and management.

“They respect their workers and that goes a long way. And it’s cool, you can actually feel a relationship with the place that you’re working rather than just going in,” Barker says.

Ann Hartley, an associate director at the University Career Center, says those relationships are part of what makes working as a student so important.

“Regardless of what career you go into, you’re establishing a track record for yourself. If you’re a good solid worker and you really develop good relationships with the people you work with, you’re going to have a great reference for you when you graduate,” Hartley says.

The difficulty of working and studying at the same time arises when the two begin to interfere with one another, as they did in Barker’s life. Hartley says that students need to plan carefully so that they can make money but still try to graduate in four years to avoid raised tuition. For some students, she says, it’s just not possible to do both. But careful planning and knowing what you’re capable of is important for any student. She says a student working 10-20 hours while taking a full course load will probably manage to stay on top of both school and work. If students are working more than that, they could start to get burned out.

Working through college has become increasingly important for students faced with the price of tuition and other school costs. Tuition for the 2010-2011 school year for a 15-hour course load rose to $3937.50, or $262.50 per credit hour, for residents, and $10,340.25, or $689.35 per credit hour, for non-residents. And according to KU’s tuition compact overview, tuition has increased an average of 9 percent every year for the past 30 years. The tuition compact, which began the fall semester of 2007, allows students to pay a fixed rate for four years. After that, the compact expires, requiring students to pay a higher tuition price if they plan on being here longer than four years.

For some, the extra load can be too much to handle, and graduating in four years seems an impossibility. Casey Bear, Baldwin sophomore, tried to take classes and work during her freshman year to pay for rent. Bear pays $360 for rent and $100 for bills each month, so in order to make that money she worked 20-30 hours a week at the Melange Apron in Baldwin. She says she quickly became too tired to keep up with her studies and decided to take a semester off, save money for living expenses and then go back to school.

So she stopped taking classes and started to work more at the Pulse in the Kansas Union, which she says changed her attitude about how work and school can fit together. Bear won’t graduate in four years, but she has a renewed sense of what she needs to do in order to be a good employee as well as a good student.

“I think it’s important to realize what you need to do for yourself. I realized that I need to work and take just a little bit of time off in order to get my stuff together, get my money situation sorted out, and then I can go back and have a renewed vigor for school,” Bear says. “I think that working is an important part of being a student or just going into that adult stage that college kind of kind of pushes you into.”

Some students find a job simply for that reason; it pushes them into the work force and offers them insight and experience. Alix Santa Maria, Overland Park senior, doesn’t have to pay her rent or bills during the school year. But she says working 25 hours a week at Commerce Bank teaches her to structure her schedule and prioritize, even when the job hinders her free time and keeps her from participating in social events like football games. She says being employed is worth the time commitment and helps her save money for after graduation.

Of course, finding a job can be difficult, particularly with the economic downturn. David Gaston, director of the University Career Center, says that the recession causes more people to need jobs at a time when there are fewer jobs to fill, and on-campus part-time jobs are no exception. Gaston says that even students who find a job on-campus might discover that they’re working fewer hours.

The Job Location and Development program was one of the steps the UCC took to overcome the downturn and ensure that students could still find employment by helping them find jobs off-campus, Gaston says. He believes that students who are able to work in college will benefit from being able to consider their future. Earning income, taking classes and applying the skills they learn in school to their jobs can be an important step toward whatever those students do after college.

“I think you can do both, but you just have to be smart in what you can handle. Know yourself, know what you’re able to handle, and then try to put yourself in that position if possible,” Gaston says.

Steven Hawley, professor of physics and astronomy, agrees that it’s important to know how much work is too much, and to ask for help when it’s needed. He says he’s lenient with his students because he understands that it’s difficult to work while at school, and advises students to realize that discipline is key to time management.

Barker, who now feels confident with what he can handle, smiles good-naturedly about his busy schedule. Finding time for work, school, and a personal life will always be a challenge.

But whether he’s laughing with a customer on a quieter day or laboring through a busy, demanding work shift, Barker knows it will all be worth it in the end.

“I haven’t made my folks take out a loan for college, and that’s something when I get my diploma that I can think about,” Barker says. “That I got through it and I paid for this myself.”