<p>I've been looking for information as to what qualifies a student for federal work study eligibility. Various websites and posts indicate that a student has to be "needy" "have significant need" or similar, but I can't find anything that says what the actual qualification is. I understand that a school may choose to offer Federal Work-Study money as part of a package of FA, or not, but I'm trying to understand what the underlying qualification is.</p>
<p>Any takers?</p>
<p>You have to have financial need as determined by the schools COA (Cost Of Attendance) less your EFC (Estimated Family Contribution) less any other aid such as merit aid. If the COA is $22,000 and your EFC is 12,000 then you have 10,000 of need. This may be met in various ways - loans, WS etc. But if your COA is $22k, your EFC is 12,000 and you have merit aid or grants of $10,000 then your need would be met so you would have no ‘need’ and not be eligible for WS.</p>
<p>How they decide who gets what is up to each school. WS funds are limited (the school has $xx and once they have awarded $xx there is no more). In our experience with our daughter they award grants she is eligible for first, then the maximum in WS ($3400 at her school), then any loans. This may vary at other schools.</p>
<p>You need to make sure that you indicate on your FAFSA that you would be interested in work study. Many schools package financial aid using a computer program, and if you don’t say you are interested in work study, it won’t be included in your aid package.</p>
<p>So is there an EFC cut-off or something? i.e EFC < 5000, you are eligible for WS?</p>
<p>No. Work study funding is allocated to each school. The school then distributes the money among its students as it sees fit. There is no magic number. Each school has a unique population, some with very needy students - others with fewer needy students. Some schools may give more grant aid to their neediest students & work study goes to the middle income students who aren’t eligible for grants. It all depends - you just have to wait for your award letter to find out what you are offered. Remember that you will have to get the job (how to do this varies by school), you may not earn the entire amount offered to you, and you earn as you go. It’s not an award that is applied against your costs on your bill.</p>
<p>kelsmom - If a student with a low EFC is not awarded work study, or additional loans beyond Stafford, is it appropriate to call FA and request that? We’re assuming work study jobs are easier to find since they’re subsidized, and D wants to earn her own book and spending money. We did the FAFSA very early, if that matters. Your opinion is gratefully appreciated!</p>
<p>Two part answer, sk8rmom - I would encourage you to contact the FA office about WS. It’s possible a WS award can still be offered at this time - it depends on the school. It never hurts to ask. It does depend on the school whether work study jobs are easier to find or not. Some on the forum say their kids have trouble finding WS jobs - at my D’s school, WS jobs are pretty easy to get, but non WS jobs are nonexistent. She does not have WS & she has not been able to get a job. Other kids seem to be able to find both WS and non WS jobs on their campuses.</p>
<p>Loans - most schools do not have loans to offer beyond Stafford. Some do have Perkins loans, but those have been relatively scarce recently. We did hear that Congress may be increasing Perkins funding, but no confirmation on that - plus, it sounded like the increased funding may include some changes to the program - so we don’t know what that means yet. Often, the extent of loans offered is whatever Staffords are available for year in school (sub/unsub mix of 5500 fr/6500 soph/7500 jr-sr for dependent student). The parent can always apply for a PLUS loan in the amount of COA-all aid. Some schools will include that in the award letter, others do not. We do, because we don’t meet need - many families need the PLUS to pay for college.</p>
<p>Thanks! Two of her other schools offered her a Health Professions Loan, not Perkins, in addition to the Stafford. This one did not. Not sure why, but we’ll see if they participate as I’m thinking that would be a more favorable loan than the unsub Stafford anyway.</p>
<p>I am not familiar with the Health Professions Loans, but I did try to find some info. It’s really vague. It looks like the loans have a 5% interest rate & are administered through the school - sounds similar to the Perkins program. Like Perkins, not all schools have funding for the loans (we have Perkins, but not HPL). This would be the preferable loan compared to both sub & unsub Stafford, with sub Stafford loan next.</p>