<p>Hi parents. It's May 4th so I've obviously decided where to go. There's a very small gap between my aid and the COA. It's about 2,000 dollars. With an EFC of 0, that's very substantial to my family. I know financial aid offices aren't normally willing to adjust your aid, but does that apply to work study too? Would it be possible for me to get them to add it?</p>
<p>You could get a job on or off campus even if you are not on work study. You could work as many hours as you want. You are not required to work even if you were on work study. Your parents would just need to make up the difference. My daughter wasn´t on FA, but she still worked 10-15 hours a week, both on campus and off campus.</p>
<p>A bit of advice… If your school has a job posting website, you should start looking over the summer, don´t wait until school starts. My daughter was able to get a very nice office job even before she showed up on campus. She was able to keep that job for 4 years.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This will depend from school to school. On the surface, it appears that the 2,000 gap should be the student’s contribution, which is probably the summer earning contribution. </p>
<p>Check with your school if you qualify for work study. Generally, the WS pay more than outside jobs but they are not guaranteed. Also, check if your school has a summer work study program that allows you to use WS funds to work off-campus. Most schools will also make it easy to borrow the small gap as opposed to work. </p>
<p>You should also discuss the impact of working outside the school system. There are subtle differences in taxation and in FAFSA as well. For instance, having to pay social security taxes on a student income is not the most pleasant part of working. Most outside jobs will be for independent “contractors.”</p>
<p>Last but not least, realize that you will need more than the 2,000 to cover the gap, as you will have some taxes to pay on your scholarships and on the income you will earn.</p>
<p>You should certainly ask about work study.</p>
<p>However WS funding is extremely limited and it is possible the school has no WS funds left to award. My daughter was disappointed to not get WS this year and went to talk to her FA department about it. They told her that she is eligible they had run out of funds before they got to her file (we filed FAFSA in very early January but she was selected for verification and in the 2 weeks it took for us to find out she was selected and to get the paperwork in they awarded all the WS funds). If they have no WS funds, that is it - they have no WS funds.</p>
<p>Whether there are many on campus jobs that do not require WS will depend on the school. At my daughter’s school there are very few. Every time she sees a job advertised it says WS required.</p>