student offered federal work-study as part of their financial aid package through the university if so you might be wondering what is it and should we take advantage of this well and help you and your student decipher if this is a good fit for your student or maybe it’s not it’s not for everyone so.
I will show you exactly what you need to know about the federal work study program what is the federal work-study?
What is the Federal Work-Study Program?
Program Well this program is an excellent opportunity for many students to gain valuable work experience and also earn money while they’re doing it now many students might decide that a part-time job is a good fit for them the stats say that.
If it is less than 20 hours per week having a part-time job could increase their GPA I will say from personal experience having that part-time job has taught me time management skills it teaches you how to prioritize different tasks, there are just so many perks outside of just earning money which of the course is an obvious one now for some students that part-time job might be through the federal work-study program.
if it is offered to them so just two cool examples of federal work-study uh first is one student who was able to read to students at an elementary school and that counted as her hours to receive the funding that she got through the federal work study another story is a student.
Who is working in the financial aid office as a federal work-study student however, the student did such an amazing job that they decided to offer them a permanent position so it was no longer contingent on that award through FAFSA.
Through the financial aid package, I think some people think that okay you have to be working at the bookstore or the cafeteria or something like that if you’re going to use federal work-study but there are including those jobs.
let me know what kind of part-time jobs you have as a college student what were some of the things that you did to make money to pay for college or if your student’s already in school what are they doing to make money go ahead and so what is federal work.
What is a Federal Work Study (FWS)?
Federal work-study is a part-time opportunity for students on campus typically that allows a student to earn money now not every school will have this opportunity so really does depend on the university and also funds are limited.
So not everyone who says they are applying for the position will get it’s not guaranteed if a student has it is on their package that they’re going to find a job to receive that funding now alternatively a student could be awarded federal work-study funding through their package but they don’t have to accept it so if they don’t want to take advantage of it if they don’t want that job on campus then they don’t have to use it it just won’t nothing will happen with that amount now.
When it comes to federal work-study most schools and positions will require an interview typically with the supervisor so this is an official position that a student would have to apply for so if your student is interested in this I’m going to share with you the steps on what you need to do to take advantage of it in just a moment lastly I want to mention.
That this type of financial aid is available to undergraduate graduates and professional students who have financial needs so this is not just for undergraduate students before we get into who’s eligible and how to take advantage of it I want to share just some of the benefits.
Pros and Cons of FWS
Touched on this but first and foremost a student can gain true work experience now of course throughout college they are building their resume whatever they have done over their years in college that is what’s going to get them.
Their full-time job so this could be a great way to build experience now some schools will try to align the position with the student’s major or with the career path that they’re pursuing for example; maybe a
marketing students would be given a position where they’re working on some marketing campaigns or some flyers for the university or maybe they’re going to work with the foundation the College Foundation and the press department.
So they will try to align it to the major which doesn’t happen in every case of course another benefit of taking advantage of this is that whoever your student is working with can become a reference whether that’s for future internships or jobs or scholarships or any kind of referral program that they need they could use their supervisor from this position and in addition to that it’s just simply a great relationship to build in general.
To go to this person for questions or experience or maybe letters of recommendation whatever it is so building that network certainly becomes easier if you’re given a position through federal work-study another perk is that typically these jobs accommodate your student’s schedule.
So it is possible that they can give their schedule and the job will be between their classes a lot of times it’s also more flexible in the sense of say it’s exam week they will work with students to work around their schedule for exams or if they have a really hard week maybe they can cut back on some hours just for that week so just because these jobs are through the university.
They tend to be a little bit more sympathetic towards what a student needs to succeed at the university so flexibility is certainly a huge perk now the last benefit and possibly the most important is that a student will earn money to possibly help pay for college.
Whatever it is that they need money for even if it’s outside expenses because that money is paid directly to the student so this is just like any other job where your student will receive a paycheck.
What are The Cons:
Honestly, I couldn’t think of too many the first is that sometimes the hourly rates that a student is given for federal work-study is not that attractive so maybe they can get a better hourly rate outside of a university job for example;
I was a server when I was in college because i could make a pretty decent hourly wage way more than say a federal work-study would be paying but a lot of times those rates do vary based on the role so it really depends on what your student has to weigh.
Weigh their options here when it comes to comparing different opportunities the other con is that the earnings are taxable but at the same time this is pretty neutral because any other job that they’d have is taxable as well so how can a student be eligible?
How to be Eligible for FWS:
federal work study well the first and most important step and you might be sick of hearing this if you’ve been listening first step is submitting the FAFSA you’re probably not surprised to hear that submitting the FAFSA is how a student can open up the doors to the potential for a lot of financial aid this is financial aid awarded through submitting FAFSA so again first and foremost submit the FAFSA.
The second criteria is that your student has to meet the satisfactory academic progress requirements so sap requirements they have to be a student in good standing another one is that they simply have to be eligible for federal financial aid so anything that would knock them out of the running for any kind of aid would knock them out of the running for this because this is a federal aid another requirement of this is having financial need beyond the Pell grant so a student will be given Pell grant before they are given work-study which is great because Pell Grant is free money and work-study you have to work for so again in that FAFSA.
The Pell Grant and how to get it in more detail so make sure you check that out last but not least one of the steps is going to be completing tax documents so again it is taxable your student will have to submit some tax information to complete their steps to get.
This job I just want to add if your student is considering federal work-study and they are looking for more money to pay for college make sure that they are not ruling out scholarships okay this is just a quick side note but scholarships are money for college that they don’t have to work hourly for besides submitting the applications we have students where they’re averaging 100 200 an hour between the awards versus what the application took as far as time.
The Pell Grant and how to get it in more detail so make sure you check that out last but not least one of the steps is going to be completing tax documents so again it is taxable your student will have to submit some tax information to complete their steps to get this job I just want to add if you.
The student is considering federal work-study and they are looking for more money to pay for college make sure that they are not ruling out scholarships okay this is just a quick side note but scholarships are money for college that they don’t have to work hourly for besides submitting the applications we have students where they’re averaging 100 200 an hour between the awards versus what the application took as far as time.
To start a few things to note with federal work-study is first and foremost it is contention based on your student being able to work sufficient hours that do not conflict with their schedule so of course to fulfill a position they have to be able to truly fulfill it by meeting any kind of time requirements at the same time they have to balance it with their schedule so this is something.
Another aspect that might be something that you want to consider is that these are typically only scheduled during school terms so these jobs will not be. During holiday breaks or summer break which might be a good thing because then a student can get another job during those times maybe back home where they can make extra money.
