Staying on a budget in college doesn’t have to mean ramen noodles every night.

The economy can be tough on college students, so NC State has expanded its wellness programs to include financial wellness, with workshops that include budgeting for spring break, cooking on a budget and 1:1 financial coaching sessions.

Planning for spring break can be stressful for students with limited means who may not be able to afford to go where their friends travel. In the workshops, students learn to calculate how much they spend and look for ways to cut back.

“If you are eating out five times a week, cut that to once a week and put that in an account to save for a trip,” says Paela Pani, business services coordinator with the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid, which runs most of the programs. “If you want to go to the same place others are going, try to get a group and split the price of an Airbnb. We try to rewire how they think.”

“We try to rewire how they think.”

Cooking workshops were offered for the first time in spring 2026. The hands-on classes were held in Carmichael Gym’s new teaching kitchen, where students learned to use a sheet pan recipe with vegetables and protein to prep meals. “The students loved it,” Pani says. “They were like, ‘Wait, is it this easy?’ ”

Krista Ringler ’96, ’04 MED, associate vice provost and director of the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid, says Pani “looks at how students live now. We live in a DoorDash culture. It’s very easy and fast, but it can be expensive when you add it all up.”

Tell Us What You Think

Do you have a personal connection to this story? Did it spark a memory? Want to share your thoughts? Send us a letter, and we may include it in an upcoming issue of NC State magazine.