(reverent orchestral music) - I'm Starla Sampaco in the Crosscut KCTS 9 newsroom.

(soft ambient music) Students who depend on part-time jobs to help pay tuition and other expenses are having to make difficult choices during the economic downturn; students like Clarisse Yapjoco, who had to quit the UW, move back home, and take an unplanned gap year.

She used to work at a store to help with expenses, but it closed due to the pandemic.

Clarisse has recently transferred to lower-cost Cascadia College in Bothell.

General unemployment in the state has grown, but the numbers for youth have gone up more dramatically.

On- and off-campus jobs are in short supply, and many students, like Clarisse, are needed at home to help parents who are also unemployed.

The UW estimates that costs for undergraduates living on campus is $30,000 a year.

I'm Starla Sampaco.

Find nonprofit Northwest news and culture every day on crosscut.com.

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