It would seem to me that they are kind of pointless since you cannot go over the awarded amount. Why not just take a part time job and earn as much as possible and have a larger sum to help pay for school and not have to take out drastic loans?
I have been estimated to receive an award of $2,500 dollars based on my income ($6,500) and my parent ($36,000). Why do this when I can just go ahead and earn an additional $4,000 and still earn the max for pell?
Some reasons:
-Campus jobs are convenient and don’t require transportation
-Campus employers are usually willing and able to accommodate your class schedule
-It isn’t always easy to find an office campus job in this job market
-Campus jobs generally allow you to go home for vacations (restaurant or retail employers may frown on your going home for Christmas and/or spring break because those are often their busiest times)
-Many campus jobs allow you to do homework during work hours (jobs like manning the help desk at the gym, baeiang available or tutoring, or working a ticket counter often allow this).
You can earn $6,300 in a non work study job PLUS the work study job earnings ($2,500 in your case) with this income of $8,800 having no effect on FAFSA.
@Madison85 I did not know that, but I am very glad you shared this with me, so thank you 
With that being mentioned, I probably will end up taking it. One more question though… how many hours could one expect to devote to the work study job weekly if I am to earn $2,500?
In addition to the great reasons above, it’s important to note that not every job limits you to just your WS amount. I’ve worked several WS jobs and never were my wages solely from WS. They were between 50 & 70% WS funding and the other 30-50% was from the employer. This meant that I wasn’t limited to just the WS amount.
I always worked a WS job and another part time job (or two) for the reason that madison said- that money doesn’t count towards my protected income.
If a student worked 10 hours per week at 8.33 per hour for 15 weeks each of two semesters, he would earn about $2500.
Another WS advantage is that you and your school do not pay 7.65% each in employment taxes.
…and work-study doesn’t affect your student income for financial aid, I am fairly certain.
^Yes, that was implied in Post #2.
There is no rule that you can’t work both…a WS job and a regular job.
Some kids work a WS on school days, and some work a regular job on Sat and Sun…and many work a regular job over the summer.
My work study jobs allowed me to earn more than the WS amount.
Re: post 9. There are some WS jibs that are funded by both college money, and by federal work study. If that is the case, the school can continue to have you work in your job…because they will pick up,the salary tab when your WD allotment runs out.
However, if your jib is only funded through federal work study money, you can only earn the allotted amount in a term.
My daughter had a job that was funded by both WS and university money. There were two years when she worked full time at the same job in the summer…and also exceeded her hours during the school year. And her job was also the highest hourly pay on campus. It was not a problem because the college continued to pay her when her WS money ran out.
So…when you apply for jobs, check to see if the job can be continued beyond the WS allotment using college funds.