Federal Work-Study: How It Works, What It Pays and How to Get a Job

1Who can get Federal Work-Study?

Federal Work-Study is for students with financial need, as measured by the FAFSA, who are enrolled at a participating school. Both undergraduates and graduate or professional students can receive it, and part-time students can be eligible at many schools. You must meet the general requirements for federal student aid, such as being enrolled in an eligible program and making satisfactory academic progress.

The FAFSA is the only route in: there is no separate application for the federal money. Each school receives a limited amount of work-study funding and decides how to award it, so two students with the same need at different schools can get different offers, and some eligible students get none. Filing early, before the school's priority deadline, gives you the best chance; our guide to FAFSA deadlines lists the dates that matter.

2How much does it pay?

The award amount on your aid offer is a ceiling, not a payment. You earn money only by working, and your total earnings cannot go above the award. If your award is $2,500 for the year and you earn $15 an hour, you could work about 166 hours before reaching it, roughly five or six hours a week over a typical school year.

• Wage: at least the federal minimum wage, or a higher state or local minimum where one applies; many jobs pay more, especially those needing skills.
• How you are paid: undergraduates are paid by the hour; graduate students may be paid hourly or by salary.
• When: your school must pay you at least once a month, and some pay weekly or every two weeks.
• Where the money goes: directly to you, unless you ask the school to deposit it in your bank account or apply it to tuition, fees or housing.

Because you are paid as you work, work-study usually cannot cover a tuition bill due at the start of a term. It is better suited to books, transportation and living costs during the year.

3What kinds of jobs are there?

Most work-study jobs are on campus: in libraries, dining halls, labs, offices, recreation centers and tutoring programs. Off-campus jobs are usually with private nonprofits or public agencies, and the work must be in the public interest. Schools are required to spend part of their work-study funds on community service jobs, such as tutoring children in reading or working at food banks.

The program encourages jobs related to your course of study where possible, so a nursing student might work at a campus health center and an education major in a tutoring program. Hours are usually set around your class schedule, and your school can limit how many hours you work each week.

4Do you have to find the job yourself?

Usually, yes. An award makes you eligible to be hired into a work-study position; it does not place you in one. Most schools post work-study jobs on a student employment website, and you apply, sometimes interview and are hired like any other job. Popular positions fill early in the fall, so start looking as soon as you accept the award.

If you cannot find a job, or decide not to work, the award simply goes unused; you do not owe anything. Career centers and financial aid offices often know which departments are still hiring later in the term, so ask before giving up on it. Some schools will move unused work-study to another student later in the year, so tell the financial aid office if you will not use yours.

5Why work-study can beat an ordinary job

The biggest advantage is how the earnings are treated. Money earned through Federal Work-Study is not counted as income when your Student Aid Index is calculated for later years, so it does not reduce your future need-based aid the way the same wages from an ordinary job could. On the FAFSA, work-study earnings are reported so they can be excluded; our guide to the Student Aid Index explains how income affects it.

Work-study jobs are also built around being a student: employers on campus expect exams and schedule changes, and many jobs let you study during quiet periods. The earnings are still wages for income tax purposes and appear on a Form W-2, though students working for their own school while enrolled at least half time are often exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes.

6Can you hold another job, or work in the summer?

You can have a regular job alongside work-study, though your school may limit your total hours, and the two are treated differently. Wages from an ordinary job count as income on future FAFSAs; work-study wages do not. If you have a choice between the two for the same hours, work-study is usually the better deal for future aid.

Work-study is not limited to the school year. Many schools offer summer and break positions, and a student who is not taking classes over the summer can still work if they plan to enroll in the next term. Ask the financial aid office whether any of your award can be used then, since some schools set money aside for summer jobs and others use it all during the year.

7Can work-study help with SNAP?

It can. College students enrolled at least half time are generally not eligible for SNAP unless they meet an exemption, and being approved for state or federal work-study and expecting to work is one of them. A student with a work-study award who otherwise qualifies on income may be able to get food benefits during the school year. Our guide to SNAP for college students explains the exemptions and what proof to bring.

8How to keep it

• File the FAFSA every year. Work-study is awarded each year, based on the new FAFSA, and is not automatic for returning students.
• Keep your grades up. You lose eligibility if you fall below your school's satisfactory academic progress standards.
• Track your earnings against the award, since hours worked after you reach it may have to be paid from other funds or not at all.
• Talk to the aid office if your circumstances change; a family job loss can sometimes increase your need and your award.

Work-study is one piece of an aid package that can include grants and loans; our guides to Pell Grants and subsidized and unsubsidized loans cover the other common pieces, and filling out the FAFSA is where all of them start.