Financial aid packages often include a section designated as work-study. Work-study enables students to earn money to help pay their educational expenses. Work-study positions are generally on-campus, and may involve community service work, clerical or data entry positions, food service jobs, or library or research employment. Students become eligible for work-study when they respond “yes” to the question on the FAFSA that asks if the student is interested in student employment. If the student qualifies for financial aid through the completion of the FAFSA, work-study is likely to be part of the college’s financial aid package.
Colleges like work-study because at least 75% of the money to pay students in work-study jobs comes from the federal or state government. Work-study positions hold real benefits for students in addition to the obvious. In many cases, students may be employed in jobs that relate to their courses of study. Thus, a budding scientist may find himself working as a laboratory assistant. Even better, professors who employ such students often become the students’ mentors. Campus employers understand that the student’s first priority is his or her studies, and such employers tend to be very flexible about adjusting hours to meet the student’s needs. To keep work-study from being a drain on academic time, such jobs are limited to a maximum of 20 hours per week.
Although money earned by a student in a given year usually will be considered in computing the next year’s financial aid, work-study money is exempt from such inclusion. That’s another nice benefit of this type of employment over off-campus employment; the money you earn will not impact your financial aid award for the next year.
When considering your financial aid packages, keep in mind that work-study awards are not guaranteed. The award simply limits how much can be earned through work-study. It is up to the student to work enough hours to reach the earnings limit.
