Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Starving Student

 Starving Student
type
FeatureClass
 Starving Student
label
Starving Student
 Starving Student
page
StarvingStudent
 Starving Student
comment
Between tuition and textbooks, rent payments and transit fares, there's only so much money that a poor university student living on bank loans and scholarships is able to put towards food. Even at schools with free tuition and labsnote the renowned Sorbonne in France still has free classes for bachelor's and master's degrees, and students get all kinds of perks books still cost something and so do living spaces and heat as well as food. The Starving Student is a staple of higher education settings, where even those lucky enough to have financial support from their parents will still be thinking of money in values of mac and cheese boxes or instant noodles.
The starving student will often have a rigid budget and spend their entire academic career just scraping by for necessities like clothing and food (but not, of course, for alcohol, or coffee). Universities do offer free food at special events, finals stress relief weeks, and conferences (mainly to lure in attendance) but students frequently must RSVP for that event in advance and there's only food while supplies last. Most of the time, at universities that still even have cafeterias, students must pay to eat there.
This trope is often Truth in Television, as college loans are very expensive (growing more so in many places) and keep many students in debt for decades. This results in years of struggling to get by just to pay off their education, which has a higher priority than buying food. In some places students have to study so much and so hard they simply don't have time to work, and when their families aren't well-off either, this trope comes into play. In fiction, it is generally played for comedy, especially when the character is also a Big Eater, but it can be milked for drama at the drop of a hat.
This trope is ubiquitous to student living in the US and to a lesser extent, other English-speaking nations such as Australia and the UK, due to the extremely skyrocketing prices of education as well as the now virtually non-existent guarantee of immediate payback after graduation in the form of a promising career.
Cousin to the Starving Artist. Expect it to appear in a Broke Episode.
 Starving Student
fetched
2024-02-25T01:00:52Z
 Starving Student
parsed
2024-02-25T01:00:52Z
 Starving Student
processingComment
Dropped link to CafeKichijojiDe: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
 Starving Student
processingComment
Dropped link to FinancialAbuse: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Starving Student
processingComment
Dropped link to InformedPoverty: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Starving Student
processingComment
Dropped link to OlderThanPrint: Not an Item - CAT
 Starving Student
processingComment
Dropped link to PlayedForLaughs: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Starving Student
processingComment
Dropped link to StarvingArtist: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Starving Student
processingUnknown
CafeKichijojiDe
 Starving Student
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Starving Student / int_266bbb13
type
Starving Student
 Starving Student / int_266bbb13
comment
Kvothe's struggle to come up with his tuition money drives a large part of the plot of The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear.
 Starving Student / int_266bbb13
featureApplicability
1.0
 Starving Student / int_266bbb13
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Name of the Wind
hasFeature
Starving Student / int_266bbb13
 Starving Student / int_291dc90e
type
Starving Student
 Starving Student / int_291dc90e
comment
In Octopath Traveler II, Osvald reveals in travel banter with Partitio that he was one of these during his student days. Osvald was low on money and at one point was forced to choose between food or books. He chose books, and his resulting hunger caused him to rack up a huge bill at the apothecary.
 Starving Student / int_291dc90e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Starving Student / int_291dc90e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Octopath Traveler II (Video Game)
hasFeature
Starving Student / int_291dc90e
 Starving Student / int_37a71462
type
Starving Student
 Starving Student / int_37a71462
comment
Marius from Les Misérables becomes a poor starving student after he's kicked out by his grandfather. Many of the other students help him out at various points, especially Courfeyrac who shares a flat with him for a while. Considering the poverty many of the other characters face, Marius's plight doesn't seem too bad by comparison.
 Starving Student / int_37a71462
featureApplicability
1.0
 Starving Student / int_37a71462
featureConfidence
1.0
 Les Misérables
hasFeature
Starving Student / int_37a71462
 Starving Student / int_3db49365
type
Starving Student
 Starving Student / int_3db49365
comment
The Spider-Man Trilogy movies reflect this. Particularly the second movie which has Peter Parker struggling through college without money, his superhero identity compounding his hardships. His only reliable source of income is selling Spider-man photos to the Daily Bugle.
 Starving Student / int_3db49365
featureApplicability
1.0
 Starving Student / int_3db49365
featureConfidence
1.0
 Spider-Man Trilogy
hasFeature
Starving Student / int_3db49365
 Starving Student / int_3e5de40b
type
Starving Student
 Starving Student / int_3e5de40b
comment
While they aren't students anymore, one episode of Scrubs notes that JD, Turk and the other interns (apart from Elliot, whose parents pay for everything) have to steal hospital supplies (e.g. toilet paper, pudding, no big-ticket items or drugs) in order to eat while making payments on student loans.
 Starving Student / int_3e5de40b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Starving Student / int_3e5de40b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Scrubs
hasFeature
Starving Student / int_3e5de40b
 Starving Student / int_4be06460
type
Starving Student
 Starving Student / int_4be06460
comment
Comes up for several characters in Being A DIK, unsurprisingly, given its setting in an American college.
The MC, who was hardly well-off to begin with, is mentioned as having taken student loans to attend B&R, and picking up money left around free-roam areas is a commonly used mechanic to get some quick cash; dialogue indicates that the money he receives from his mother's inheritance, $5000, is a significant amount to him. That said, his poverty is somewhat downplayed due to a degree of Gameplay and Story Segregation: he often can spend money on dates, strippers, restaurant girls, and Jacob's artwork, alcohol never seems to be a problem (though admittedly he is typically only drinking at parties), and the topic of food costs does not come up even before he moves into the DIK mansion which presumably has Rusty paying for basic supplies.
Maya's situation is much more dire; her father's Financial Abuse due to his opposition to her and Josy's relationship has messed up her credit history so badly that she cannot even take out student loans without ruining it entirely, which is why she is so desperate to join the HOTs after hearing the rumour of them paying for tuition.
 Starving Student / int_4be06460
featureApplicability
1.0
 Starving Student / int_4be06460
featureConfidence
1.0
 Being A ΔΙΚ (Visual Novel)
hasFeature
Starving Student / int_4be06460
 Starving Student / int_5921531c
type
Starving Student
 Starving Student / int_5921531c
comment
Persona 5: Yusuke is both a Starving Student and a Starving Artist. He's left penniless after leaving his guardian's atelier to say in his school's dorms on his own. He frequently complains about hunger, walks instead of paying Tokyo train fare, and takes as many opportunities to mooch meals off the rest of the group as he can, though it's almost entirely Played for Laughs. It's implied he still manages to make a decent amount of cash from his scholarship, various art contests, and presumably the cast's Dungeon Crawling escapades, but he's more focused on buying expensive art supplies to fuel his obsession than he is with food. In Dancing in Starlight, he's seen growing daikons in a pitiful makeshift garden in his dorm room, and apparently takes cold showers to avoid paying for hot water. Part of his issue is revealed during his social link: his mentor and guardian was revealed to be a greedy fraud who sold the works of others as his own artwork and was Secretly Wealthy while pretending to be poor, causing Yusuke to associate earning money through art with greed and being a sell-out and consequently reject all means of using his art to support himself. Working through his link involves helping him overcome this idea and accept that he can make money selling artwork while still being true to himself.
 Starving Student / int_5921531c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Starving Student / int_5921531c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Persona 5 (Video Game)
hasFeature
Starving Student / int_5921531c
 Starving Student / int_59fb8a3b
type
Starving Student
 Starving Student / int_59fb8a3b
comment
The boys in The Young Ones live in near-squalor in a shared house while attending Scumbag College.
 Starving Student / int_59fb8a3b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Starving Student / int_59fb8a3b
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Young Ones
hasFeature
Starving Student / int_59fb8a3b
 Starving Student / int_62c4e135
type
Starving Student
 Starving Student / int_62c4e135
comment
In Broken Sword, Nico mentions that she had to drop out of university because of this trope (she couldn't afford art supplies, although she was able to eat potatoes when she was doing printing with them).
 Starving Student / int_62c4e135
featureApplicability
1.0
 Starving Student / int_62c4e135
featureConfidence
1.0
 Broken Sword (Video Game)
hasFeature
Starving Student / int_62c4e135
 Starving Student / int_7ab7da61
type
Starving Student
 Starving Student / int_7ab7da61
comment
In Three's Company, this is why Jack moves in with the girls. He's a starving cooking school student. Good cooking schools can be ridiculously expensive. Though students are usually able to eat their projects afterwards.
 Starving Student / int_7ab7da61
featureApplicability
1.0
 Starving Student / int_7ab7da61
featureConfidence
1.0
 Three's Company
hasFeature
Starving Student / int_7ab7da61
 Starving Student / int_7bd87081
type
Starving Student
 Starving Student / int_7bd87081
comment
In The Zashiki Warashi of Intellectual Village, Hayabusa's college student neighbor's meal plan consists of soaking instant ramen in water to exponentially increase its size.
 Starving Student / int_7bd87081
featureApplicability
1.0
 Starving Student / int_7bd87081
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Zashiki Warashi of Intellectual Village
hasFeature
Starving Student / int_7bd87081
 Starving Student / int_805e8b39
type
Starving Student
 Starving Student / int_805e8b39
comment
In Maison Ikkoku, Godai works to pay for his studies, but he never has money for anything. And when he has some money, he spends it on presents for Kyoko.
 Starving Student / int_805e8b39
featureApplicability
1.0
 Starving Student / int_805e8b39
featureConfidence
1.0
 Maison Ikkoku (Manga)
hasFeature
Starving Student / int_805e8b39
 Starving Student / int_8a8fb433
type
Starving Student
 Starving Student / int_8a8fb433
comment
Adam Lewis from TimeRiders, even though he's already struggling, he borrows thousands from his parents to go abroad, deciding he doesn't care if he'll be broke for the rest of his student life.
 Starving Student / int_8a8fb433
featureApplicability
1.0
 Starving Student / int_8a8fb433
featureConfidence
1.0
 TimeRiders
hasFeature
Starving Student / int_8a8fb433
 Starving Student / int_9ce851a3
type
Starving Student
 Starving Student / int_9ce851a3
comment
Implied with Malcolm in Malcolm in the Middle, who is last seen in the finale quite cheerfully slaving as a campus janitor in between attending class — at Harvard. One of the plotlines of the episode had involved the family worrying that they wouldn't be able to afford his tuition and the choice between getting an education and going on to do great things, or taking a corporate job offer with a six-figure salary.
 Starving Student / int_9ce851a3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Starving Student / int_9ce851a3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Malcolm in the Middle
hasFeature
Starving Student / int_9ce851a3
 Starving Student / int_b8c8f795
type
Starving Student
 Starving Student / int_b8c8f795
comment
Basically the entire cast of PHD is composed of grad students living on limited stipends. They primarily live on free food available at campus events and instant ramen.
 Starving Student / int_b8c8f795
featureApplicability
1.0
 Starving Student / int_b8c8f795
featureConfidence
1.0
 PHD (Webcomic)
hasFeature
Starving Student / int_b8c8f795
 Starving Student / int_b98da5d2
type
Starving Student
 Starving Student / int_b98da5d2
comment
In Love Hina, a recurring subplot is Keitaro looking for a job to pay for his studies. Made worse in that he routinely loses money to the Pretty Freeloaders' hijinks.
 Starving Student / int_b98da5d2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Starving Student / int_b98da5d2
featureConfidence
1.0
 Love Hina (Manga)
hasFeature
Starving Student / int_b98da5d2
 Starving Student / int_d8680d23
type
Starving Student
 Starving Student / int_d8680d23
comment
Sabrina at See-CAD: Implied by Sabrina's panic while paying her tuition.
 Starving Student / int_d8680d23
featureApplicability
1.0
 Starving Student / int_d8680d23
featureConfidence
1.0
 Sabrina at See-CAD (Comic Strip)
hasFeature
Starving Student / int_d8680d23
 Starving Student / int_d9e1a051
type
Starving Student
 Starving Student / int_d9e1a051
comment
In Fruits Basket, main character Tohru Honda starts out as this. After her mother died, she went to live with her grandfather, but when her grandfather's house goes through renovations she decides to live by herself in a tent while taking up a job as a janitor for an office building. She later moves in with Shigure, Yuki and Kyo Sohma, though she still insists on working.
 Starving Student / int_d9e1a051
featureApplicability
1.0
 Starving Student / int_d9e1a051
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fruits Basket (Manga)
hasFeature
Starving Student / int_d9e1a051
 Starving Student / int_e32f00d6
type
Starving Student
 Starving Student / int_e32f00d6
comment
The Quintessential Quintuplets: In the first chapter, Fuutarou's Establishing Character Moment has him order a barbecue beef menu, holding back the beef itself in his school cafeteria, while mentally congratulating himself for saving money that way. Shortly after we see that his family is very poor, and as a result he's not very picky about what he eats so long as it is edible.
 Starving Student / int_e32f00d6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Starving Student / int_e32f00d6
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Quintessential Quintuplets (Manga)
hasFeature
Starving Student / int_e32f00d6
 Starving Student / int_ec69896c
type
Starving Student
 Starving Student / int_ec69896c
comment
Ewon Jung of Totally Captivated, an orphaned Scholarship Student who falls in with a group of loan sharks, calculates a conman's loan in terms of boxes of ramen at one point and will go along with almost anything for a free meal.
 Starving Student / int_ec69896c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Starving Student / int_ec69896c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Totally Captivated (Manhwa)
hasFeature
Starving Student / int_ec69896c
 Starving Student / int_fa914bee
type
Starving Student
 Starving Student / int_fa914bee
comment
Inverted in The Peace Not Promised, where the teenage Severus is half-starved at home and uses his fully catered time at Hogwarts to recover. Even then, though, he has very simple tastes, content to live on porridge and black tea and brown bread, until his engagement to Lily motivates him to work on his physique so as to be less self conscious on their wedding night.
 Starving Student / int_fa914bee
featureApplicability
1.0
 Starving Student / int_fa914bee
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Peace Not Promised (Fanfic)
hasFeature
Starving Student / int_fa914bee

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Starving Student
processingCategory2
Older Than Print
 Starving Student
processingCategory2
Poverty Tropes
 Starving Student
processingCategory2
School Tropes
 Starving Student
processingCategory2
Stock Characters
 Sabrina at See-CAD (Comic Strip) / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 Daria in Morrowind (Fanfic) / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 Snakeskins (Fanfic) / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 The Peace Not Promised (Fanfic) / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 Dracula Has Risen from the Grave / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 Madame Curie / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 Spider-Man Trilogy / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 Brig Scarlet Flamingo / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 Crime and Punishment / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 The Canterbury Tales / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 The Likeness / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 The Name of the Wind / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 The Wise Man's Fear / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable! (Manga) / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 Ichiroh! (Manga) / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 Mizutama Honey Boy (Manga) / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 The Quintessential Quintuplets (Manga) / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 Scrubs / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 The Young Ones / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 Three's Company / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 Being A ΔΙΚ (Visual Novel) / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 Daughter for Dessert (Visual Novel) / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 Taskmaster: Minnesota (Web Video) / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 Cheese in the Trap (Webcomic) / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 PHD (Webcomic) / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 That Summer (Webcomic) / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student
 Love Hina (Manga) / int_ce8a5ed8
type
Starving Student