<p>I recieved work study as part of my financial aid. Do I get paid for it (and get to keep the money) or am I just working off my tutition?</p>
<p>Receiving a work study award means that if you find a work study job, you will be able to earn up to the amount of the award. You will receive a paycheck just like you would for any other job. You may pay personal expenses with the money or save it for upcoming expenses.</p>
<p>Work study is mostly used for personal expenses since you’ll receive paychecks throughout the year. Your tuition would need to be covered through other sources since that money is due at the beginning of each term.</p>
<p>Contact your school to find out how work-study jobs are found. Not all students are able to find w/s jobs.</p>
<p>So if the additional funding is found at the beginning of the year then what happens after the year of work study is completed. Is the salary paid supposed to be applied to repay loans by the student or does the school credit the student with the amount of money they made?</p>
<p>My son has a $4600 work study. We feel very fortunate to have it but are not entirely sure how it works. He has already secured a WS job.</p>
<p>He will be paid a pay check based on the number of hours he works and the hourly rate of pay just like for any job. WS income is taxable for federal taxes and possibly State taxes (depending on the state) but not for FICA. My daughter was paid every two weeks but your son’s school may do paychecks on a different schedule. How he uses the money is up to him. My daughter was living off campus so used it toward food and personal expenses. The school does not ask or keep track of how you are spending it.</p>
<p>Work-study earnings are usually used to pay for “day to day” college kid expenses - incidentals, off-campus food, transportation, etc.</p>
<p>Because the money is paid out in paychecks (monthly, bi-weekly, whatever), the money isn’t usually expected to go towards tuition costs.</p>
<p>Having $4600 in work-study is a high amount. Many kids are only awarded $2000 -3000. If your son is able to work enough hours to earn that much (many kids don’t), and your son is economical, then he certainly can use some of the earning to either repay loans or to borrow less in the first place.</p>
<p>What rate is your son being paid and how many hours a week will he work?</p>
<p>*So if the additional funding is found at the beginning of the year *</p>
<p>Not sure what you meant by that. Are you saying that your son was only recently given that $4600 work-study award?</p>
<p>He is scheduled to work between 11 and 15 hours a week at a rate of $9.00 per hour. </p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback thus far.</p>
<p>DD had a campus job, she took time off now & again for sports and at exam times, but she also worked from afar over breaks, she never made more than $3000 in a year. She was generally scheduled for around 8-10 hours a week, but had the flexibility to address other needs.</p>
<p>Unless your student gets paid an extremely high hourly rate or has a ‘job’ that allows them to study during work, it would be tough to make $4600 and fully participate in campus ECs that are virtually required for some post-grad options (med school etc)</p>
<p>My daughter had $3400 WS a couple of years ago and earned the full award working 12 hours a week at $9.50 ish an hour (can’t remember exactly what). She worked the hours regularly except for during finals weeks. Agree that earning the full $4600 will be a stretch.</p>
<p>From what I understand that is the MAXIMUM he can earn thus I’m not expecting him to actually earn that amount. I believe the break down by semester is $2300. I understand that is alot but then it’s also the MAXIMUM he can do. We aren’t expecting him to reach that but if he does then great.</p>
<p>Yes, that is the max he can earn…he can earn less.</p>
<p>Both my boys have part-time jobs working about 8 hrs per week (during the school week). That is about the most they can work. If they worked weekends, they might be able to work more, but since their hours can only be Mon - Fri, they can’t really work more than that without affecting their grades.</p>
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<p>Correction, that is the maximum he can earn based on work study, he can always work more if the employer/s will pay for it and the student is able to fit into their schedule.</p>
<p>In work study, let us say the student is paid $10 in wages by the library. The Federal Govt. will subsidize these wages up to 75%, so that the library (or the coffee shop or…) pays only $2.50/ hour and get reimbursed for the remaining. Once they reach the $2300 in wages for that semester (or what ever the work study amount is, for many students it may be $1000 or 1500 etc.), the government stops the subsidy. So if the student works beyond that, the employer has to pay the full wage themselves. Some employers may not want to do that and would prefer to hire another work study student. On the other hand there may be employers who do not want to train a new person and might be willing to continue the student. Also, there may not be enough WS jobs available, as is the case in some universities.</p>
<p>Even at $10 an hour, $2300 is 230 hours which over a 12 week period is almost 20 hours a week (assuming he does not work during finals week etc.). That is a lot of hours, so the chances that he actually max out on the $2300 per semester may be low if he has a tough course load and wants to keep his grades up.</p>
<p>However, in theory he can earn up to $2300 in work study and earn a little bit more outside of work study if he wanted to. You may have to plan on how you will meet the gap if he does not work that much. One way is to economize and not spend as much as indicated in the COA.</p>