The issue of college affordability has become particularly salient as presidential candidates vie for our votes. But as students across the country continue the fight for affordable education, our own university needs to tackle the issue head-on.

Despite changes made to our financial aid system in recent years to more equitably distribute need-based aid, many prospective students still find an education at NYU unaffordable and unattainable. But, as many of us have experienced, issues of affordability persist well after students matriculate, as students enrolled at NYU continue to face an increasingly high cost of attendance and the unpredictable costs associated with attending an urban university. As NYU transitions from the leadership of President Sexton to President-designate Andrew Hamilton, administrators must not only revise the system for awarding financial aid, but also find tangible ways to make our university more affordable. One way the university administration can address the issue: increasing wages for student workers.

For many students, current policies prevent workers from earning sufficient wages. Although the university reports that student workers earn between $9 and $15 an hour at NYU — wages slightly above the current citywide minimum wage — policies restricting the hours students can work and payroll issues prevent many students from earning enough. The administration has taken preliminary steps to address concerns raised by the Student Senators Council, Student Labor Action Movement and other student-led organizations, but it should bolster its support for student workers by incrementally increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2018, continuing to streamline inefficiencies in its payroll system and, most importantly, including students in discussions about NYU’s affordability and policies that affect student workers.

While establishing a higher minimum wage will not be without challenges, the university should join pioneering institutions such as the University of California in raising student wages. Although opponents’ concerns that such an increase will reduce the number of on-campus jobs are valid, the timetables set by other universities show that the policy is feasible and fiscally achievable.

Proactively addressing students’ concerns about the affordability of education at NYU will further demonstrate the incoming administration’s commitment to improving the university and ensuring fair compensation, especially when student workers are exempt from statewide increases to the minimum wage. Increasing wages for student workers is one tangible way the administration can reaffirm its focus on meeting students’ needs.

Opinions expressed on the editorial pages are not necessarily those of WSN, and our publication of opinions is not an endorsement of them.

A version of this article appeared in the November 23 print edition. Email Ryan Thomas at [email protected]