I was awarded $3000 for Work-Study this year. As I am a freshman, I was worried about diving into the rigor of university studies along with fitting into and adjusting to a new environment. As a result, I decided not to look for a job my first semester in school. I have been looking for a job for a few weeks now, but it seems that not many positions are available for inexperienced freshman such as myself, especially in the middle of the year. Out of the 84 positions open on our school’s job linking site, I only qualify for six. Out of those six, I’ve heard back and secured an interview for one position. If I get the job, I can only work nine hours a week (there are no other shift times available) at $9/hr for ~15 weeks.
Some background info: I am heavily reliant on both scholarship and aid money, as my family’s income is low. I needed to keep my expenses this previous semester at a minimum and luckily had some personal savings to help me out, which have since been depleted. I would greatly appreciate working for money that I can spend without feeling guilty (e.g. asking parents and spending money that isn’t mine that they can’t afford to give me anyway). I’m grateful for the position that I will be interviewing for (and hopefully will get!) this week, but I would like to work more hours or work a second job. Given how things have gone these past few weeks, it seems that I will not be able to do either. $9/hr for nine hours a week is good enough for me, but it is not even close to the total package I was given this year, and I am definitely not opposed to earning more if given the opportunity.
My main question: If I earn ~$1000 (if I work 15 weeks, I would get ~$1200, but I don’t know how much will be subtracted for taxes and etc.) and therefore only earn about 1/3 of my work study package, how will that affect my package next year, assuming my family’s yearly income and etc. are the same as they were last year? I presume it will be easier to get a job my sophomore year (as I plan on applying for them before fall semester even begins), and there will be many more jobs available at the beginning of the year. Next year, if I am awarded $3000, I definitely plan on working for that much. However, at my school if one is not awarded a federal work study package, he/she needs to wait until October before applying to jobs (so those with Work-Study have a good chance to get a job), and even then, there is a low chance of getting one without FWS. Consequently, I am worried about my FWS package (and if I’ll even get one!) my sophomore year. Any clarification would be appreciated!
Sorry for the lengthy post; I wanted to give background information for context and a more complete picture. Thank you for your time!
Each school awards work study as they determine, but each financial aid year is calculated separately. I don’t think it should change your award for next year, but if you are worried you could talk to the FA officer and explain that you couldn’t find a job.
Don’t stop looking for WS positions. Sometimes more open up. Why are you only qualified for 6 positions? I know you can’t be qualified for them all, but only 6? Talk to the counselors and see if they have any additional info.
@twoinanddone I was surprised too, but I spent almost an hour looking at the details for each of the open positions, and almost all of them look for someone in a specific field, with previous experience in that job, or the times they’re looking for simply conflict with my class schedule. I think the jobs that would have been available at the beginning of the year (e.g. cashier, library assistant, dining center) are already filled. My friend said there were hundreds of jobs open in September, and a majority of them had no experience or qualifications necessary.
Fingers crossed that more jobs do open up. If it comes down to it and I am not awarded any FWS, I guess I can always talk to my FA counselor. Thanks!
(Edited post to tag you. I’m not sure if you get a notification on CC if I don’t tag?)
That is great that you are looking for a job now, that should help with your expenses and you might even have some money leftover, $80 a week is pretty good.
I would just work that one FWS job for now to make sure you have time for your studies as well, especially since you are dependent on your scholarship and FA and there might be GPA requirements.
From what I understand you can only make up to the yearly work study amount, but you can make less.
If the work study was part of your award package and you earn less than the $3,000 per year, will you owe any money to the university?
Also I don’t think FWS jobs have FICA taxes withheld, just federal.
Plan on working during the summer and look for a FWS job early next fall for more choices.
@mommdc from what I understand about FWS they don’t take the amount off of you bill, they give it to you as you earn it. So I don’t think the OP would owe.
Not earning your full work study award this academic year should not have any impact at all on how your award for next year is calculated.
FICA (Social Security and Medicare tax) is not deducted from work study pay, and unless you will earn more than the dependent individual deduction amount in 2016, you probably don’t want to have any income taxes withheld from whatever salary you might earn. When you get hired (thinking positive here), spend a few minutes on tax withholding research before you complete and turn in your W-4 form. There’s a good chance that 100% of what you earn from work study will go directly into your pocket/bank account.
OP- do not hesitate to apply for a job at your college even if you don’t have 100% of what they are looking for. A job open now- in January- is a job that is going begging. One of my kids got a job which required programming in a certain language (which he did not know). The professor hired him and said, “you’ll need to spend some time with one of the grad students to get up to speed”. period. He even got paid for the training time. Another kid got a job which had a bunch of qualifications listed- but the professor was desperate- and they worked together for two years!!!
If you don’t speak Russian and a job requires that- then no, you are not qualified. But if it’s a matter of learning on the job- that’s what college is for, and you will find that your employer is probably happy to invest in you if there’s a chance you are coming back to the job next year.
mommdc, it doesn’t matter what the WS was supposed to cover, the amount awarded is not taken off the bill. The WS could be expected to cover a gap amount, some of room and board, some of incidentals. If it is to cover self help amount, the student still doesn’t get it until he earns it and the tuition bill is still (usually) due on the first day of class.