A good deal of research has focused on part-time employment among full-time students in higher education. However, little attention has been paid to the way in which these patterns may reflect societally specific processes rather than universal trends. This paper examines ways in which the higher education system itself can influence variation in student employment, using the Republic of Ireland as a case study. The Irish case is interesting because of the presence of rapid economic growth side by side with marked increases in educational participation rates. This paper reports on a national survey of 3900 higher education students. It indicates the way in which employment levels vary according to course requirements and funding arrangements as well as socio-demographic factors. In addition, the paper places student involvement in part-time work in the context of their overall workload and its impact on levels of life satisfaction, an area largely neglected in international research. It is argued in this paper that inadequate policy attention to the changing profile of higher education students and appropriate financial support structures for students risks reinforcing inequalities among students. (Contains 2 tables, 1 figure and 2 notes.)