<p>I've been reading up about loans and work study, just trying to understand what I'm getting into. For UC Santa Cruz, I can have Federal Work-Study for $1500. But I know people who have gotten higher offers. Does that mean I would be less likely to be hired in a work-study job? Also, I heard that if you don't accept certain loans, you can put that aid amount into your work-study. I don't really think that's true, but can it be done?</p>
<p>Work study is paid partly by the school and by the government. Schools have a set amount of work study money to distribute to students. Students can work until they run out of money. (As far as I know, employers don’t know how much students can actually make). Money earned via federal work study is paid directly to the student, not the college. </p>
<p>I don’t know if you can convert loans into federal work study, or not. However, tuition for your fall semester freshman will be due before you will have enough money from work study fall semester freshman year.</p>
<p>As far as I’ve ever heard, work study and loans are not interchangeable, especially if you’re talking about the federal Stafford loans. The FA office can clarify this for you, though.</p>
<p>They can also tell you about their policy regarding the chances of getting a job for the amount you’ve been awarded. At my D’s LAC, all work study students are guaranteed a job which will allow them to earn the award, although they don’t necessarily get the job they may want unless they’re first in line. This varies by college, however, so I’d recommend that before you go in the fall, you talk to them and clearly understand what the policy is, and exactly what you need to do. Then once you get to school in the fall, do it quickly. If you mess around for a week, you might miss out or end up with that job that nobody else wanted. Do it on the first day.</p>
<p>If you do not already have the maximum in subsidized Stafford loans ($3500 for a freshman) then it is possible to ask that WS be converted into a subsidized loan (but only up to the max sub loan limit).</p>
<p>Going the other way -sub loan to WS - is harder. WS has very limited funding and schools decide how to allocate their WS funds. Once they have awarded their Ws funds they have no more to award. Usually there are more people that qualify for WS than they have funds to award. It is likely they do not have any more in which case they cannot change your loan to WS. But it is always worth asking. The worst they can say is no.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help! I will definitely talk to the financial aid office on this one. I think you’re all right and WS and loans aren’t interchangeable, at least not easily. Hopefully this will all work out. Thanks again!</p>