I work in Minneapolis but make far below the city’s minimum wage of $14.25 an hour for businesses with 100 or more employees. Why? Simply because I work for the University of Minnesota.

As I discovered after moving here as a first-year student in the fall, state law allows the University to ignore local minimum wage requirements. One’s cost of living doesn’t decrease because their paycheck happens to come from the University of Minnesota.

The minimum wages for on-campus student employees sits at $10.33 per hour. For that amount, students on the Twin Cities campus can work as receptionists, maintain buildings, or work in other assorted positions. I currently work in the dining hall two floors below my dorm room which can pay as little as $12 per hour – which is also what I make. It’s undoubtedly convenient. The University exploits this convenience to pay me and my fellow coworkers far less than we need and deserve.

The average rent in Minneapolis is about $1,635 for an apartment that is about 800 square feet, according to RentCafe, and with inflation and a tight market, rents will likely rise. This concerns me as someone who will be living off-campus next year.

Let’s do some math (trust me, it’s difficult for my history-major brain as well): A student taking 16 credits this semester, as I am, is expected to devote approximately 48 hours per week (i.e., three hours per credit) to their schooling. I also work 17 hours per week in the dining hall, which means I’m already committed to 65 hours per week, and we haven’t even begun to consider the extracurricular activities in which I and my fellow students participate.

For those thinking we should just work more, we frankly don’t have time. And in my case, I have a disability that limits the amount of physical labor I can do. The approximately $903 I make every month (and that’s pre-tax) is significantly below the average Minneapolis rent, and of course, I also have to pay for college.

I admittedly enjoy privileges that many others don’t. I managed to save a little money while working in high school, and my parents are able to make a modest contribution to my education. Yet I still can’t afford to be a student. The University paying me far less than the city minimum wage doesn’t help.

What’s more, the already substantial difference between my $12 an hour and the city’s minimum wage is about to get even starker. On July 1, 2022, the city plans to increase minimum wage for large employers from $14.25 to $15 an hour. That means my dining hall coworkers and I will be earning $3 less per hour than Minneapolis’ minimum wage, and that difference adds up. It still may not be enough to cover the average Minneapolis rent, but it’s a lot more than University of Minnesota workers will make.

My fellow students and I aren’t asking for a lot, particularly considering how much the University relies on our work. To borrow a term we’ve heard a lot during the pandemic, we are “essential.” Without us, the University can’t feed, transport or maintain clean facilities for its thousands of students. So pay us like we matter. Pay us the Minneapolis minimum wage. You may not be legally required to do so, but just because something is permissible doesn’t make it right.

Izzy Laderman (she/her) is a first-year studying History at the University. When not working on campus, she works as a Violence Prevention Educator for the Aurora Center.

This OpEd essay has been lightly edited for style and clarity.