Please explain Work Study award to me.

[shanvan]

Ds was awarded Work Study aid as part of his financial aid package.  IT was explained to us that he would have to find a job at the campus job fair in the fall.  He was also told he could earn more than what was listed and that the hours and amount depend on the job he finds.  This all sounds very up in the air as far as counting on it for financial aid.  So, it is possible he would not be able to find a job? And he will be competing with other students for the work study jobs?  How can they list an amount and then say the amount depends?  I am finding it confusing.  We also found out that Ds's current part time job pays more than work study. 

[FaithManor]

If memory serves, it is a job on campus that is subsidized by state and federal aid, ie. the government pays part of the wages or something. Maybe someone else here knows more about it. My kids didn't qualify.

 

I would imagine that his chances of getting a job that fits around his schedule would be dependent on their being more jobs available than students who qualify. Have they said what percentage of students will be vying for these positions.

 

Ds has a job tutoring which is not work study, and since tutoring pays way more than minimum wage, it is a much better position. However, he had to wait a semester so that he had recommendations from his professors in order to be considered for the job. The other nice thing about it is that he sets his own hours.

 

When I was in college, I qualified. But I found that I could get music jobs - playing banquets, local halls, accompanying school choirs, being the rehearsal accompanist for the college musicals, working as a music hall monitor - for better pay than work study. Again, though it will depend on what his skill set is and whether or not the school has openings for non-work study jobs for which he is qualified.

 

Hopefully someone here with a student in work study will chime in because I'm just operating off memory, and it's been a while. I do know that my friends' daughter was given work study. She did find a job on campus, but it was vacuuming hall ways and classrooms from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. every night, and she has an eight am class every single day. The poor kid is really struggling with not getting enough sleep, but she needs the hours. So I think it can be a good thing as well as a bad thing depending on the situation.

[Gwen in VA]

Call financial aid and ask what percentage of students want work-study but can't get it.

 

I've heard of colleges which just don't have enough work-study jobs available. My older two attended a college where work-study  was available for anyone on either financial aid or merit aid, since there weren't enough students who needed it to fill all the positions available.

 

Do consider the possibility that work-study isn't the best option for work. Some jobs pay really well, and work-study usually only pays a bit above minimum wage. What matters is how much money he earns, not whether he earns it on campus or off campus!

[shanvan]

Call financial aid and ask what percentage of students want work-study but can't get it.

 

I've heard of colleges which just don't have enough work-study jobs available. My older two attended a college where work-study  was available for anyone on either financial aid or merit aid, since there weren't enough students who needed it to fill all the positions available.

 

Do consider the possibility that work-study isn't the best option for work. Some jobs pay really well, and work-study usually only pays a bit above minimum wage. What matters is how much money he earns, not whether he earns it on campus or off campus!

This is what we were thinking, though if there were jobs related to his major, he may like that.  Anyway--it is just like I thought, then.  In my book this is very iffy financial aid.  Not really something to count on.  Ds was already planning to continue his part time job.

[elegantlion]

On my campus, there are a lot of work study positions, all that pay minimum wage and, I believe, the student is not supposed to work more than 20 hours per week. 

 

I did not do work study for the first two years. This semester I'm doing supplemental instruction for a class (group tutoring) and it is classified as work study. I'm doing it for the experience, not the pay as mine is only about 7-10 hours a week.

 

They're flexible because they recognize that study comes first and are willing to work around schedules. They can be done as little as an hour at a time between classes. that's the perk over jobs in the greater community which probably pay better. 

 

A lot of students on my campus tend to keep their work study jobs from year to year. I would not be doing work study if my advisor had not asked if I want to do tutoring for one of his classes. Personally, I find the minimal pay barely worth it and it does take more time than I get paid for (prep, hanging out on campus when I'd rather go home). It's relevant to my major and possible career, so the pros outweigh the cons. 

 

For my son, I have advised he not do work study because we qualify for need based aid and he lives at home. I'd rather he spent the 10-20 hours a week focusing on his studies, but he's not one to want to be busy all the time. 

[happypamama]

Granted, it's been a while, but at my school, work study paid for kids to work in campus daycare, which was pretty sweet.  I did that my last year, and that experience led directly to getting a post-college job as a nanny, so it was useful for more than just money.  Can your son contact the department he is planning to join to see if they have work study jobs available, just as a heads-up for where he might want to head at the job fair?

[hillfarm]

At the university where dh works, there are more work study positions than students wishing to fill them. The jobs pay minimum wage or slightly above and workers are allowed ten hours per week.

 

Dd qualified for a certain amount of work study. Dh explained to her that there are "fun" jobs that are busy and pleasant to do, but that are fairly competitive to land. Things like working at the student recreation center or chauffeuring visiting dignitaries and celebrities to and from the airport. There are also the "boring" jobs, that are easy to get but not much fun. Examples would include working the reception desk and answering the phone in a relatively out of the way, low key department. He pointed out to her that the fun job is its own reward, but will keep workers hopping the whole time and can cut into your study time. The boring job may not be a thrill a minute, but employers usually don't mind if you use the time to study and do homework, so long as you answer those few calls that come in, so a paid study hall for the most part.

 

Many of these jobs can convert into summer employment, if the student wants to stay. If approved for another year of work study and by the employer, the student usually has the option of continuing on in their position. However, by junior year, most students have internships, so most of the campus jobs are only "locked up" for a couple of years.

 

Dh tells his work study kids that it is fine if they want to study or browse the internet, so long as they answer the phones and are willing to work hard for the approximately 30% of the time that they are needed to pitch in on a big project. He tries to clue them in to the intricacies of the industry and gives them tips on how to get ahead in it. He also is very flexible about allowing them to shift their hours if they have a big test or paper due. Over the years it has surprised me how many of them make a concerted effort to stay in touch or come by and see him if they are traveling through town. The work study/employer relationship can be a very rewarding one for both parties.

[LisaKinVA]

I only qualified for Work-Study my senior year.  I worked in the school cafeteria around my class schedule (it usually meant being there from 0500-1000 3 days a week, and working various other shifts (dinner) other times.  I had worked off campus the previous two years, and while I believe I earned a little less than I did off-campus, I also wasn't dependent on catching a ride, walking 4 miles, or the bus schedule.  It was worth it (I really didn't mind the early shift, I preferred it).  I know some people worked at the library, others worked in the safety office (answering phones), I know the same guy vacuumed/polished floors in the main hall my three years there...

 

But, work study does depend upon the jobs available.  I wouldn't count on the income they suggest, though.  

[Janice in NJ]

Not all of them are for minimum wage. As always, this depends on the school and the job. If you child has a special skill, they get paid more. Just saying that having the WS grant on file makes it easier to get hired.

 

Peace,

Janice

 

[Kareni]

We are fairly low income.  My daughter received work study all four years at her liberal arts college.  Freshman year, she worked in the cafeteria.  (All freshman on work study worked at the cafeteria.)  Sophomore year, she did likewise.  Junior year, she worked part time in the cafeteria and part time at the campus post office.  Senior year, she worked solely at the post office.  Her experience was that many students who were eligible for work study did not work all of the hours that they could have.

 

One spring, her college informed her that she was eligible for summer work study funds at home.  She needed to find a job with a local (non-religious) non-profit or governmental agency.  If she did so, the employer paid only 25% of her wage with the remainder being paid by work study funds.  She found a job with the local library.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[ThisIsTheDay]

My dd requested and was granted Work Study her sophomore year.  The pay varied quite a bit; not all were minimum wage jobs.  She did not take a Work Study position. The following year she requested it again, but it was not granted.  I don't believe anything else in her FA package changed, so I have assumed she didn't get it because she didn't take advantage of it the prior year.

 

A friend in a doctorate position at a nearby college has three work study students. For the most part, they do nothing; occasionally, they will help with projects, and they help with other office functions unrelated to the my friend's job.  They are really benchwarmers, it seems, and spend a lot of time doing their own homework. What I'm saying is that a work study student could land a very, very boring job.

 

 

[MerryAtHope]

If the income and hours are about the same, there is an advantage to doing a work study program versus an off-campus part time job as far as the FAFSA for the following year is concerned. 

[cjzimmer1]

I did work study in college.  I skipped freshman year because the only jobs open to me were working in the cafeteria and that didn't appeal to me at all.  I spent two years working in the library.  I would work two 6-midnight shifts a week.  Of those 6 hour shifts, I had at least 4 hours (but often more) of study time.  My last year I worked at a computer lab but was basically the same deal.  Get paid to do your homework.  That was a lot more beneficial to me than an off campus job that paid more because by the time I figure in travel time and expense and lost study time, I wouldn't have come up ahead.

[angela in ohio]

Middle dd has $3000 in work study, though she used outside scholarships to reduce it. There are more jobs than students apparently, and even the cafeteria pays $11 to start. Most jobs we saw listed are in the $12-14 range and some are even what you would think of as community service (being paid to tutor kids, etc.) She will apply for research and if she can't get that, probably not work (she's only eligible for $500 now.)

[bugs]

My dd goes to a small liberal arts college in a big city.  She was still eligible to take a work study job, as a lab assistant for a cancer research office at the massive state school across the highway. I think they have some kind of agreement between schools.

 

 

[shanvan]

Isn't this federally funded? At Ds's school they know how much federal money they will receive, so they create a specific number of jobs at 10 hours/week, minimum wage. Kids can go online and see the available jobs, then apply. He said he's never heard any of his friends who were eligible that didn't get a job. There are also campus jobs that are not part of the federal program; Ds works in the IT dept and makes $10/hour, but they still limit him to 10 hours a week. These type jobs can affect FAFSA, but work study does not.

Good question!  On financial award for Ds it is listed as College Work Study, so I would guess it is not.

[Dmmetler]

I worked in the college of business computer lab as a work study-basically a paid study hall, because I was there mostly to reload the printer and occasionally to help someone who knew nothing about the computer or software get started. It was helpful because I got a graduate assistanceship teaching computer fundamentals classes largely due to the work experience-and again, those classes were self-paced, so all I had to do was be there to help the students when they got stuck and proctor tests, which was great.