Can I Benefit From The Federal Work-Study Program???
Do you need a little extra money while attending college? Who doesn’t , right? Well, the Federal Work-Study (FWS) program might just be the thing for you.
Work-study is a federal need-based program that allows you to work on-campus or off-campus to earn money to help pay for your educational expenses. Undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at least half-time with financial need, as determined by your EFC (Expected Family Contribution) from your FAFSA, are eligible for this program. The program encourages community service work and work related to your program of study.
To be considered for the FWS program, you must file a FAFSA and complete any financial aid applications that your school requires. Also, you need to request consideration for FWS by checking off the question #31 on the FAFSA. Your school receives a fixed amount of money each academic year to make FWS awards. Once this money is awarded, the funds are exhausted for the academic year so you are encouraged to file your FAFSA early. Your school will also have a limited number of jobs available so they will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
Your work-study eligibility will be determined by your financial aid office and will appear on your financial aid award letter. Your FWS award represents the maximum amount you may earn for the academic year. You will receive a pay check, typically bi-weekly, for the hours worked. Your work-study amount that appears on your financial aid award letter is not money that you can deduct from your bill. It is simply a limit of work-study funds that your financial aid office has determined that you could earn up to.
So, are you thinking how much do I get paid?? Well, the FWS program pays at least the current federal minimum wage ($7.25/hour) but it could be higher, depending on the type of work you do and the skills required.
If you have received FWS as part of your award package, when you get to campus this Fall, you should visit their school’s website for exact instructions on how to apply and obtain a FWS job. If you work on-campus, you’ll usually work for your school. If you work off-campus, your employer will usually be a private non-profit organization or a public agency, and the work performed must be in the public interest. Also, it may be possible for you to work at selected companies in the private sector that choose to participate in the program.
Not only is work-study a great way to earn some extra cash for your educational expenses, but it also offers valuable experience in your field of study, skills, flexible hours, experience for your resume and a reference for potential job opportunities. It very well could be a win-win opportunity!
And as a final note- One of our former financial aid work-studies utilized his experience and went on to work for The Center for College Planning (CCP) at the NHHEAF Network Organizations. So you never know where your experience will take you. Way to go Lee!!!!
See you next month,
Lisa
Great points Lisa! I happen to know Lee very well and he always mentions how great an opportunity work study can be, look how it worked for him! He also mentions that your school will generally be more flexible than a job at the mall or a restaurant and be a whole lot nicer! I imagine that is very helpful around finals. Finally, just think of all the late night pizza you could buy with work study money!
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Lisa, on average, how many students do you think actually use work-study funds to help pay for tuition vs. using it for non-education related items? Curious to hear what you think since it is a program designed to help make college more affordable and was not designed to help student's buy pizza and movie passes.
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Ken --
Great question! Although a little challenging to answer, honestly, because money earned from Work Study is not typically (if ever) directly transferred to a student's account as a payment towards charges -- we wouldn't know the difference between just an out-of-pocket cash payment and a payment that came from a student cashing a work study check and then making a payment to their account.
I'd be willing to say though, that the amount of students who actually use their work study earnings to help pay their directly billed tuition and fee costs is pretty small. HOWEVER, and please let me stress however... that doesn't mean that students aren't spending the money on other things that still qualify as "educational" expenses. Remember, the Cost of Attendance that is built for every student at every institution (for students that are at least half time) includes allowances for things like miscellaneous personal expenses and travel either between their off campus apartment and campus, or even the travel costs associated with student's traveling home for things like semester breaks. Not to mention things like books, and additional supplies like replacement notebooks, art supplies, pens, pencils, etc. Even things like pizza, which can seem trivial, can really be looked at in some ways as a catalyst for educational activities like a private study group. I'd qualify that as a worthy miscellaneous personal expense...
I'd also like to highlight Lisa's mention of the experience points you get when working on campus. Office experience of any kind on a resume can really carry some clout -- you are demonstrating you've learned customer service skills, organizational skills, the ability to work within a professional team environment...I could go on forever! Even if your work study position isn't in a field the student happens to be interested in going in to professionally, the experience is valuable on many levels.
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Lisa great blog on work-study!! It's a wonderful way to get some cash and take part in the school community, and sounds like that guy Lee really likes late-night pizza, I mean who doesn’t in college!! Thanks for your advice and information it was highly informative!!
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