<p>DD will be a freshman next fall. She has been working part time through the spring and now has multiple jobs for the summer. By the time she leaves for school in August, she will have earned roughly $6,000 for the year so far.</p>
<p>Her FA package includes Work Study. I know that FA packages typically have an exclusion for students earnings (somewhere around $6,200-$6,500?). Will the $1,100 she earns in her Work Study program put her over this exclusion, or is it considered in a separate category?</p>
<p>Work study is how some of financial need is met, so money earned through work study does not change the EFC.</p>
<p>Work study earnings will not affect EFC. </p>
<p>If your D is saving her regular earnings, then those will count on next FAFSA if the funds are there. She should spend those dollars. If she wants to save anything, then save her WS earnings, because those savings won’t hurt EFC either.</p>
<p>WS earnings are not reported on FAFSA, nor are the proceeds if she leaves them sitting in an account. She should have a designated account, maybe a savings account to stash those funds using them last. Student assets have no protection allowance and are hit at 20% directly towards the EFC so she should have zero in assets, money the day the FAFSA is completed, other than fin aid funds like WS. To keep it simple, a designated account makes sense.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. She will be attending a Profile, “full need met” school. Does this change any of the answers?</p>
<p>Because any school can do whatever with school money, there is that very small chance that the school might look at it differently, but I don’t know a single school that does. Look at the PROFILE you completed and you’ll see if it tells you not to include WS earnings. All of the ones I have see have done so. That is standard on PROFILE.</p>