I’m currently going to school and receiving financial aid through the federal pell grant. I was put on the work study waiting list for my school. I finally got a chance for FWS at my school and when I filled out the application, I honestly answered that I had been convicted of a drug felony. Instantly, I was told that I could not continue FWS by my school due to their education code. I never lie on my FASFA about my conviction and was never convicted while on Financial Aid, allowing me to receive financial aid and my eligibility for aid and work study Can the school denied me FWS even though the federal government deemed me eligible?
I am almost positive the school can choose to not hire a felon. So, yes, they can deny you FWS even though the government deemed you eligible.
This is on their education code
“Notwithstanding subdivision (f), a person shall not be denied
employment or terminated from employment solely on the basis that the
person has been convicted of a serious felony that is not also a
violent felony if that person can prove to the sentencing court of
the offense in question, by clear and convincing evidence, that he or
she has been rehabilitated for the purposes of school employment for
at least one year. If the offense in question occurred outside this
state, then the person may seek a finding of rehabilitation from the
court in the school district in which he or she is a resident.”
I was solely denied of employment on my conviction. I was convicted in 2007. I currently have a 4.0 gpa, president of the honor society and involved in several other honor society and clubs. I have completed all the requirement. It just feels like discrimination to me, especially since they that clause.
I think your aid can be denied as well. I don’t think you can get fed loans.
^^That’s not true. That is only certain situations. And he said he was not convicted while on aid.
I’m not sure what circumstances work/study is guaranteed. Certainly schools have limited amounts so it is not guaranteed to all students. Based on what you quoted, I would appeal the order in writing, respectfully. You can point out the amount of time has passed with no further court problems ‘rehabilitation’ and that employment will allow you to get a work track record and further integrate successfully into society. Also, you can get a non work study job on your own.
I get federal loans and financial aid even though I have offense. There are only restrictions when the felony was done while on federal financial aid or work study, and even with that they will allow you federal help after so many years has pass. But that is not my case, I was never on financial aid or work study or in school at that when I was going through my rough time and got convicted. There was no problem with any of the work study application until that infamous question “Have you ever been convicted of a felony.”
This may be a long term problem for you. Almost all applications will ask this question and you will need to explain. “going through a rough time” may not be enough of an answer for many employers. Can you see if there is anything you can do to get this removed? Second, Not sure it will matter, but why do you have to have a FWS job, why not apply for other on campus jobs?
The Pell grant and the Direct loans are coming directly from the government. But other loans, SEOG, workstudy that may be federally funded are allocated at the discretion of the college. They can distribute those funds to whomever they please pretty much.
I suggest you talk to the Dean of Students and find out what you can do to appeal this, how to deal with is in the future as well
Also something to consider: when you are receiving a FWS award, your paycheck is typically a combination of a small amount coming from the school’s budget and the rest covered by the FWS. If the school had any issue with the past conviction, I would guess it would be their right to choose not to hire - since a portion of the funding is coming directly from the hiring department. As other posters have mentioned, if you feel like you have complied with all of the education code requirements, you might want to take this to the higher-ups.
FWS is campus-based aid, meaning schools get a pot of money from the federal government to divvy up among students (and the school has to match a certain % of the money with their own funds). Not all students will receive a FWS award, and not all students who receive a FWS award from a school will get a FWS job … the award simply indicates that the student MAY earn UP TO that amount.
I run my school’s FWS program. Our institution has a policy that prohibits any person from working on campus if Human Resources determines that they cannot be hired. Everyone, including potential FWS employees, must complete a school employment application and be vetted (we do background checks on all employees). If there is a problem, they cannot work for the school … not even in a FWS job. For example, the question is asked on the employment application about prior criminal convictions. Anyone who answers No to the question “Have you ever been convicted of a criminal offense?” but who did actually have a conviction can never be hired — we have had students who were convicted of something like trespassing as teens, thought that doing community service meant that they didn’t technically have a conviction, and said No. The conviction turned up in the background check, and the students could not work for us. The conviction would not have prohibited them from working; lying about it did. Institutional policy does rule (as long as it is applied consistently to all employees).