Navigating College Affordability: An In-Depth Look at Federal Work-Study Programs

Starting college is full of exciting changes, from beginning classes to making friends and having new experiences. For many students, however, the financial burden of higher education can be a significant concern. The federal work-study program can be a great resource for students looking to cover some college expenses. Federal Work-Study (FWS) programs offer a valuable opportunity for eligible students to offset these costs while gaining valuable work experience. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the FWS program, covering eligibility requirements, employment conditions, wage considerations, and the program's broader impact on students and institutions.

Understanding Federal Work-Study (FWS)

A work-study job is a part-time position available to eligible students through the federal financial aid program. Work-study is a federally funded program that helps college students with financial need earn money through part-time jobs. These roles are often on campus or with approved community organizations and are designed to fit around your class schedule.

Eligibility for Federal Work-Study

To be considered for Federal Work-Study, you must file for the FAFSA. The FAFSA® form is the only way to be considered for Federal Work-Study. To meet federal work-study eligibility, you must be an undergraduate, graduate, or professional student who’s enrolled in school at least part-time. Eligibility for the program is based on your financial need.

To be eligible for a Federal Work-Study (FWS) job, a student must meet all general eligibility criteria and must have financial need. Also, a financial aid administrator may not award FWS employment to a student if that award, when combined with all other resources, would exceed the student’s need. However, unlike Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), the FWS Program does not require that priority be given to students who have exceptional financial need.

Several factors can affect whether you are offered a work-study award each year.

Types of FWS Employment

A student may be employed under the FWS program by the school in which the student is enrolled (on campus). These jobs are located right on campus and might include roles in the library, admissions office, residence halls, athletics or academic departments.

You may also arrange for your school’s FWS recipients to be employed off campus by federal, state, or local public agencies or certain private nonprofit or for-profit organizations. Off-campus FWS jobs with federal, state, or local public agencies or private nonprofit organizations must be in the public interest. Some work-study students are placed with approved nonprofit organizations or public agencies that align with their academic or career goals. Our community program includes organizations such as America Reads, the Indiana State Library, the Milk Bank, and New Beginnings.

Making FWS Jobs Accessible

A school must make FWS jobs reasonably available to all eligible students at the school. You must make FWS jobs reasonably available, to the extent of available funds, to all eligible students. In assigning an FWS job, a school must consider the student’s financial need, the number of hours per week the student can work, the period of employment, the anticipated wage rate, and the amount of other assistance available to the student.

Award Limits and Usage

There are no specific award limits for FWS earnings, other than the requirement that the amount of the FWS award not exceed the student’s financial need.

For awarding and packaging purposes, you should use the student’s net FWS earnings, which exclude taxes and job-related expenses. To determine the student’s net FWS earnings, you should subtract any job-related costs and non-refundable taxes from the student’s gross FWS earnings. Job-related costs are costs that a student incurs because of their job. Examples of job-related costs include uniforms; the cost of meals at work; and transportation to and from work. For work during vacation periods, job-related costs can include food and housing as long as the FWS student incurs these costs only because of the FWS employment.

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Many FWS students must pay the bulk of their education costs at the beginning of each period of enrollment, before they have had a chance to earn FWS wages. Therefore, you may allow a student to earn FWS wages to cover educational expenses in the next period of enrollment that your school offers. The student must be planning to enroll in that next period of enrollment and must demonstrate financial need for that period of enrollment. A student may earn FWS funds for the next period of enrollment during any period of enrollment, including a period of enrollment that is comprised, in whole or in part, of mini sessions.

Employment During Periods of Nonattendance

A student can be employed in an FWS job during a period of nonattendance, such as a summer term, including a summer term before the student begins attendance in a program for the first time. A student may be employed under FWS during a period of nonattendance, such as a summer term, an equivalent vacation period, the full-time work period of a cooperative education program, or an unattended academic term. To be eligible for this employment, a student must be planning to enroll for the next period of enrollment and must have demonstrated financial need for that period of enrollment.

When a student who had an FWS job in a period of nonattendance fails to enroll in the next academic period, you must be able to demonstrate that the student was eligible for employment and that, at the time the FWS was awarded, you had reason to believe the student intended to enroll in the next period. At a minimum, you must keep a written record in your files showing that the student had accepted the school’s offer of admittance for the next period of enrollment.

A student in an eligible study-abroad program may be employed during a period of nonattendance preceding the study abroad if they will be continuously enrolled at their home school in the United States while abroad and if the student’s study is part of the home school’s own program.

If your school combines a series of mini-sessions or modules into one term (e.g., three summer mini-sessions into one summer semester), an FWS student attending any of the mini-sessions may earn FWS wages at any time throughout that term. You may apply those earnings towards the student’s financial need for the mini-session(s) attended and/or the next period of enrollment. The amount of FWS wages a student may earn at any given point in the term does not depend on whether or not the student is enrolled in a mini-session at that time.

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Teacher Certification Programs

As with Direct Loans, a student may receive FWS for coursework that doesn’t lead to a degree or certificate from the school but that is required by a state for an elementary or secondary school teaching credential or certificate. As noted above, a student attending a teacher certification program must be enrolled at least half-time to receive FWS benefits.

Funding and Federal Share

In general, the federal share of FWS wages paid to a student may not exceed 75%. The 75% applies to expenditures for FWS wages and does not include any administrative cost allowance. Schools must provide at least 25% of a student’s total FWS wages from nonfederal sources.

For off-campus FWS jobs with private for-profit organizations, the federal share of wages paid to students is limited to 50%. The for-profit organization must provide a nonfederal share of at least 50%. The employer may contribute a nonfederal share that exceeds the required 50%.

The federal share can be as much as 90% (and the nonfederal share can be as little as 10%) for students employed at a private nonprofit organization, or at a federal, state, or local public organization or agency under the circumstances described in this paragraph. Only organizations that are unable to afford the cost of this employment are eligible to pay a reduced nonfederal share. In addition, the school may not own, operate, or control the organization, and the school must select the organization or agency on a case-by-case basis.

The federal share of FWS wages paid to a student may be lower than 75% if the employer chooses to contribute more than the minimum required nonfederal share. The federal share can be 100% for all FWS positions (except for those at private, for-profit organizations) at a school that is designated as a Title III or Title V eligible school. The federal share of allowable costs in carrying out the Job Location and Development (JLD) Program may not exceed 80% of such costs.

A school can pay the nonfederal share from its own funds or other nonfederal sources such as outside funds from an off-campus employer. The school can also pay the nonfederal share in the form of documented noncash contributions of services and equipment such as tuition and fees, food and housing, books, and supplies documented by accounting entries. A school does not need the student’s permission when making the match with services and/or equipment. Funds from programs sponsored by federal agencies (such as the National Science Foundation or the National Institutes of Health) may be used to pay the nonfederal share, as long as the programs have the authority to pay student wages.

Conditions and Limitations on FWS Work

All FWS work, whether on campus or off campus, has certain conditions and limitations. FWS employment must be governed by those employment conditions. FWS employment must not displace employees (including those on strike) or impair existing service contracts. Replacement is interpreted as displacement. Also, if the school has an employment agreement with an organization in the private sector, the organization’s employees must not be replaced with FWS students. Replacing a full-time employee whose position was eliminated (for any reason) with a student employee paid with FWS funds is prohibited.

FWS positions must not involve constructing, operating, or maintaining any part of a building used for religious worship or sectarian instruction. In determining whether any FWS employment will violate this restriction, a school should consider the purpose of the part of the facility in which the work will take place and the nature of the work to be performed. If the part of the facility in which the student will work is used for religious worship or sectarian instruction, the work cannot involve construction, operation, or maintenance responsibilities.

Neither a school nor an outside employer that has an agreement with the school to hire FWS students may solicit, accept, or permit the soliciting of any fee, commission, contribution, or gift as a condition for a student’s FWS employment. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, prohibits employers (including schools) from accepting voluntary services from any paid employee.

A student may earn academic credit as well as compensation for FWS jobs. Such jobs include but are not limited to internships, practica, or assistantships (e.g., research or teaching assistantships). In general, students are not permitted to work in FWS positions during scheduled class times. Exceptions are permitted if an individual class is cancelled, if the instructor has excused the student from attending for a particular day, and if the student is receiving credit for employment in an internship, externship, or community work-study experience. Although there is no prohibition on paying overtime in the FWS Program (for example, someone working on a stage crew may have to work overtime during a production), FWS is a program designed to provide part-time employment, and students should not often work in excess of 40 hours in a single week.

Job Descriptions

The Department strongly recommends job descriptions for all FWS positions as a part of the control procedures included in your school’s policies and procedures manual. A written job description will help you ensure that the position is one that qualifies under the FWS program regulations. Moreover, by considering the rates of pay applicable to the position, the qualifications for each pay level, and the qualifications of a student applicant, a financial aid administrator can determine the hours a student will need to work in order to earn the funds specified in the student’s FWS award. Finally, a written job description establishes a record to which all parties can refer.

If a student is employed with an agency or organization that provides community services, the school should, as with any other FWS position, have a job description that includes the job duties and responsibilities. Schools should use the job description to verify that the job meets the definition of community services in the FWS regulations (see the discussion under “Community Service Jobs” later in this chapter).

Wage Rates and Payment

Undergraduate students are paid Federal Work-Study (FWS) wages on an hourly basis only. Graduate students may be paid by the hour or may be paid a salary.

FWS employers must pay students at least the federal minimum wage in effect at the time of employment. If a state or local law requires a higher minimum wage, the school must pay the FWS student that higher wage. You may not count fringe benefits as part of the wage rate and may not pay a student commissions or fees. A student’s need places a limit on the total FWS earnings permissible but has no bearing on his or her wage rate. It is not acceptable to base the wage rate on need or on any other factor not related to the student’s skills or job description. If a student’s skill level depends on his or her academic advancement, the school may pay a student on that basis.

FWS pay must also meet the requirements of the state or local law. This means that when the state or local law requires a higher minimum wage, the school must pay the FWS student that higher wage.

A school is not permitted to use either the federal or the institutional share to provide fringe benefits such as sick leave, vacation pay, or holiday pay, or employer’s contributions to Social Security, workers’ compensation, retirement, or any other welfare or insurance program. These restrictions on the federal share apply even when the Department authorizes a federal share of 100% of FWS wages.

Timekeeping and Record Keeping

You must maintain adequate timesheets or records of hours worked for FWS students. These timesheets must show, separately for each day worked, the hours a student worked, and the total hours worked during the job’s payment cycle (i.e., twice a month, every week, every two weeks, etc., but not less than once a month). FWS timesheets must be certified by the student’s supervisor. Students working for your school must have their timesheets certified by either their supervisor or an official at the school.

A school that uses electronic processes to record the hours worked by students must ensure that all signatures obtained in the certification of the hours worked satisfy the standards of the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act. FWS records are used to compile the data submitted by schools on the Fiscal Operations Report section of the FISAP. Your school must provide payroll vouchers that contain sufficient information to support all payroll disbursements.

A student’s FWS compensation is earned when the student performs the work, and the school must ensure that the student is paid FWS compensation at least once a month.

Benefits of Work-Study

So why consider work-study over a traditional part-time job? The benefits of work study go beyond just making money. Work-study jobs provide professional experience early on. Because work-study jobs are designed for students, your class schedule comes first. You’ll never be asked to work during a lecture or exam time. Balancing school and work can help you develop time management skills that will benefit you far beyond college. The money you earn through work-study is paid directly to you so you can use the funds to help with textbooks, meal plans or other expenses. On-campus work-study jobs connect you with staff, faculty and fellow students, helping you build a strong campus network.

Finding Work-Study Opportunities

Once you’ve filed the FAFSA® and you’ve been accepted to a college or university, you’ll receive a financial aid package. This typically outlines any financial aid you’re eligible for, including scholarships, grants, student loans…and work-study. Unlike scholarships and grants, this form of financial aid isn’t actually given in one amount to students at the beginning of the semester. Once you start school, you should connect with your financial aid or college employment offices. They’ll probably have job banks or postings for you to look through. Typical work-study jobs range from working in the school’s library, to assisting professors with research or projects, to working in the dining hall.

Start your search early so you have time to research the different jobs available. Each work-study job has a different pay rate and gives you a different kind of work experience.

Maintaining Eligibility

To maintain your federal work-study eligibility, make finding a job a top priority once you’re on campus. You’re not promised a job, and available slots can fill up quickly. Plus, some jobs are likely to be more popular than others.

Falling behind in your studies can affect your Federal Work-Study eligibility. Sometimes it can be hard to balance a job and school at the same time. But keep in mind that your employer plans your work hours around your school schedule. If your schedule needs to change, that’s ok.

How Work-Study Funds are Disbursed

The gross amount of the award is based on the total number of hours to be worked multiplied by the anticipated wage rate. You will receive your funds in the form of bi-weekly paychecks in accordance with IU Indianapolis' payroll schedule. You have the option of setting up direct deposit with your bank account. If you don't want set up direct deposit, IU Indianapolis will give you a Visa check card. Your paychecks will then be deposited onto that card.

With every paycheck, the amount earned is deducted from your work-study award. Once you have earned your money, you are not required to use it for school expenses if you do not want to. This money is yours to use however you need.

Work-Study vs. Loans

Federal work-study isn't like a loan. Unlike loans, work-study doesn't accumulate debt that needs to be repaid after graduation.

Impact on Financial Aid Calculations

When your fill out your FAFSA form each year, you (and your family, if applicable) will provide consent and approval to have your federal tax information transferred directly from the IRS into your FAFSA form. However, your earnings from a Federal Work-Study job won’t be included as part of your total income when your school calculates your aid offer.

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