<p>Sure, it could depend on whether the student can handle the load, but </p>
<p>If a student is offered an on-campus job of up to 20 hours per week, making $1550 each school year, should she take it?</p>
<p>Its easy to quit an off-campus job if your grades are suffering, but what about on-campus jobs?</p>
<p>$1550 over two, 15-week semesters at 20 hours per week is $2.58 per hour. So if its really about the money, she might want to look off-campus for at least minimum wage, which is almost three times $2.58 per hour. Then again, how easy is it to find a 20 hour per week off-campus job in a college town that works with your class schedule?</p>
<p>How is a freshmans new college experience and social life affected by working 20 hours a week?</p>
<p>Where I work, campus work-study jobs are typically capped at 15 hours a week. This is in part to avoid the need for students to quit because they are overwhelmed. However, if a student decides to quit a work-study job, he can. The only downside is that the placement office will get the perception that the kid is fickle and unreliable and will give work-study opportunities to other students first.</p>
<p>I think you are right to be concerned about a 20-hour per week commitment, esp. for a freshman.</p>
<p>Whether it is work study or not, the school cannot pay a student 2.58 an hour. They have to pay minimum wage. The number 1550 Is what the student is responsible for, he could earn it any way he wants. Parents could even opt to give that money to the student.</p>
<p>Exactly. $2.58 at 15 hours/week is $38.70/week – it’s practically slave labor. Are all work-study jobs this low in pay at your child’s college, OP? They should be paying at least $8/9 per hour…</p>
<p>If this is a work study, either they will structure her schedule so she spreads out her work time over the year to meet that $1550 so she will work about 5 hours/week or if she works 20 hours/week, she will have to stop working when she hits that $1550 unless they extend the work study money. If they really are going to pay her less than $3/hour, not worth the time or effort. </p>
<p>As for the 20 hours/week, it would really depend on the job. If it is a job at say the front desk of a dorm where you can spend most of of your time studying, 20 hours is nothing. If they are working in the dining hall and no time to study, 20 hours is too much.</p>
<p>When your child can work up to 20 hours a week does not mean that they have to work 20 hours. Because work study positions are spread out among students, it is highly unlikely that your daughter will work 20 hours a week.</p>
<p>If your child has 1550 in work study, once they have exhausted the $1550, their work study budget is finished.</p>
<p>Even working a minimum wage job at 7.50/hr 1550 comes out to 200 work study hours. Over the course of 30 weeks (2 semesters) it is 6.67 hour a week. 6 hours a week is doable and should not interfere with her studies.</p>
<p>The benefits to work/study jobs are they tend to align with the campus schedules and the managers tend to be more tolerant around midterms and finals. Off campus jobs don’t do this. Work/study jobs are rarely 20 hours a week. 5-15 hours on most campuses. I would “check” your information regarding the hours and the pay per hour for whatever job you are looking at. Generally the work/study $$ are awarded, the student finds the job and is able to work up to the amount of money awarded. S1 was awarded work/study one year and the jobs ranged from around $7.50 and hour to around a max of $10 which paralleled what jobs were paying off campus. He had worked off campus the year prior W/S and the years after W/S and did enjoy the year he had work/study the best…because of the flexibility around midterms and finals. I wish my kids could get work/study every year but the college doesn’t have enough work study funds to give every kid that wants work/study…it’s part of funding financial need.</p>
<p>As far as “working” and going to college…it’s no big deal. There is plenty of time when a student takes a full load to go to class, work, study and still have fun.</p>
<p>Agree with the others…federal work study is always paid at minimum wage, or higher. The w/s cap just means that they’re not allowed to work more than 20 hours a week and can’t earn more than they were awarded (unless they request additional funding from FA). </p>
<p>Working on campus has been good for my kids, though it really only gives them pin money. Their employers readily agree to schedule adjustments from one semester to the next and time off as needed. Additionally, they chose jobs that offered them additional skills/experience related to their majors which was helpful when applying for internships.</p>
<p>Some jobs on campus are also more flexible in what you do during the time on site. My older D worked at the library and was able to study during some of that time. My younger D is a math tutor and has some specific times when she is in the learning center but noone comes in for math help.</p>
<p>My S has done work study from day 1. One job was more intense - calling alum for donations so there was no down time at all. The other was working in the library - less stressful and a little down time on occasion. He has worked about 10 hours per week, really enjoys it, and has maintained good grades and heads a campus magazine too. It’s amazing how much kids can do with good time management. I agree with the above - on campus jobs are much more in tune with the college year schedule.</p>
<p>My D worked in her freshman year at the tutoring center, as a scheduler, not a tutor. She did about 8 - 10 hrs/week plus mandatory 10 hours a week volunteering for a scholarship. Actually, she had to do 300 hours over the school year so some weeks she did more hours as opposed to others and she exceeded her requirement. When she was awarded another scholarship, she lost her work study and was let go from the tutoring center.</p>
<p>Personally I think 20 hours a week of work is too much. BUT that is my opinion. I do think working 10-12 hours a week is reasonable. Work study jobs usually offer some “flexibility” in scheduling, like if it is midterm or exam week, they will work with the student to adjust the times. This is not always the case with off campus or non-work study jobs.</p>
<p>Work study jobs pay minimum wage…or higher…not $3.00 an hour or less.</p>
<p>As Sybbie pointed out…the number of hours paid with work study funds is limited. Some jobs, however, are both workstudy, and campus paying (our kiddo had one of those jobs…and once her ws money was used up, she was paid by the college…these type of jobs are NOT the norm).</p>
<p>My D has been working since freshman year, and so have most of her classmates. She has had both on-campus and off-campus jobs. Working is beneficial for them on so many levels, especially to help build a resume. However, make sure they are being paid at least minimum wage. It is the law.</p>
<p>Which college and what kind of ‘job’ only pays $2.58/hour? Something doesn’t sound right.</p>
<p>As far as working 20 hours/wk goes - it completely depends on the student and the type of job. There are some on-campus jobs that are flexible enough to work around tests and other major academic commitments and some that even permit the student to get some HW done while on the job depending on the particular job.</p>
<p>I think I “get it” now…the OP just did the division assuming 20 hours of work per week.</p>
<p>OP…it is HIGHLY UNLIKELY your student will find a WS job that is 20 hours a week. The way work study is structured…the student finds a job…it pays minimum wage at least. The money is paid out of WS funds and once that money is used up (in most cases), the student cannot continue to work. SO…the maximum your kiddo could earn using WS monies is the amount of the WS award.</p>
<p>In no case would the salary be less than the minimum wage for the state in which the college is located.</p>
<p>S works an off-campus job about 10 hours per week. It was a problem last fall during finals week, when he should have taken off work. Otherwise he seems to be managing. 20 hours would be too much. </p>
<p>
That really depends on the student and on the major. There is no way I could have worked during the Junior/Senior years of my Engineering degree.</p>
<p>beolin, if this is a work study job it works just like the above posters have mentioned. Kid would work till they have used up 1550 at whatever rate per hour your minimum wage is. They could say up to 20 hours one week and then none at all the rest of the month, they could say 5 hours a week, etc. It just depends how they work it out. If kid does 20 hours every week that money will be dried up in no time and then they won’t work any more the rest of the year. I had the same thing with my work study job in college. By the time april came around I had earned to my cap and then didn’t have any shifts around finals - Darn!</p>
<p>I honestly think anyone can work at least somewhat during college. I worked my tail off in school, had my days scheduled from 8 am till 1 am monday-friday and also had a plan for every weekend. The schedule i made for myself had Class time, work time, study time, and even time with friends. When I had my work study position i was able to take classwork to my job and work on it there… so it was kind of like being paid to study from time to time. I always scheduled myself the 10pm-1AM shift about 3-4 days per week… everyone hated that shift so I could have as many as I wanted (till my money dried up). Didn’t interfere with any classes, was relatively slow, and I could get classwork done. I quit my work study job my senior year when someone else offered me another job - off campus. I worked during the days tuesdays wednesdays thursdays and fridays. I made my own hours based on when I had breaks between classes. I usually would work more hours on a Friday since i never had friday classes.</p>
<p>Agreed…this decision to work is totally dependent on the individual student. My engineering major kiddo worked for the college for four years…because she worked for them, they were very understanding about project deadlines, exams, etc. I think some depends on the job as well.</p>
<p>My now sophomore daughter fell into a job in her major last year. 15 hours a week, slightly more than minimum wage. Turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to her. She struggled with homesickness and the older employees in the department took her under their wings, mothered and loved on her, and helped her to understand what was normal and to utilize campus resources. She is now back there again this year and, because it is her major, she has been fast-tracked for special training and skills for the sole purpose of bumping up her resume by people who are experts in the field. They even have her listed as an employee on the website, as the go to person for a specific area, and she has never had to ask her parents for a penny since going to college, which has done wonders for her confidence.</p>