I don’t know if a thread like this exists but I am very confused about how Work Study works. I know you work for the amount that you have to pay for your financial aid package cost that it says you have to get from the Work Study Program, but how do you pay for other expenses (such as cell phone bills, going out to eat once in a while, clothes, laundry, etc.) if the money you earn from a job is being used for your financial aid?
Do you earn more than what you need for you package or are you just stuck not having money to pay those things?
Your work study earnings are just like the earnings from ANY job. You can use this money to pay for anything you choose.
for additional money for exoenses you have, get a job now, and save.
Are you saying that you will need every penny of your work study earnings to cover the billable costs for your college (tuition, fees, room, board)?
How are you currently paying for your cell phone, clothes, and the occassional meal out?
Work study money generally doesn’t get applied to your bill. You get a pay check(direct deposit generally) regularly through the year as you earn it. It is for miscellaneous living expenses. So you do need to have the funds to pay the college bill upfront each semester or on a payment plan.
@thumper1 My parents pay for my cell phone bill and clothes. Well, if the financial aid package says that $3000 will come from the Work-Study Program, doesn’t the work-study job only give me (between the monthly payments) that amount at the end of the semester?
@annoyingdad okay so if I get that check, how will I be certain that I will have enough money at the end of the semester to give to the university if I want to use some for other expenses? I just always assumed you would have to get a side job to pay for other things.
Liz. Nope. For work study, you have to apply for and get a job. Then you work. You get paid regularly for the hours you work. Usually the earnings are direct deposited into your bank account. It’s like any regular job…the difference is that it is FUNDED With federal WS money.
So…if your award is $1500 a semester, you would need to work sufficient hours to actually earn that amount.
Are you saying that when you go to college, your parents will no longer pay for your cell phone and clothing?
@thumper1 Oh! Okay, so the job that I manage to get will give me the money that I earn regardless of how much I have to provide the university from work study funds? For example, let’s say my award is $1500 a semester and I work 10 hours a week–I will receive more than what I am required to give for that semester. I can personally keep the money that I receive extra for my own expenses?
And I’m not sure if they will, that’s why I was asking just in case. They will probably pay for my cell phone bill, but I’m not sure if they will pay for any additional clothes I might want if I go shopping or dining out.
Thank you so much for all the help by the way!
@thumper1 Also! Do you know how many hours typically a work study job gives a student?
I’m not sure what you’re saying above.
here’s an example
Let’s say your tuition, room, board, and fees are $20,000 (direct school bills)
Let’s say that books, personal expenses, entertainment, and travel are another $5k (non school bills, but school related costs)
So…all related school costs are $25k total
Let’s say your aid pkg looks like this:
$10k grant/scholarship
$6k loans
$3k work study (that is all your school job will pay....don't count on getting more from THAT job)
$19k of FA
Well, you can’t really apply the work study to “school bills” because you haven’t earned it yet, and that money will get paid out monthly to be used for various day to day personal expenses, fun with friends, etc.
So, you only have $16k to go towards “direct school bills”. Your family will have to pay that other $4k…or you will have to earn that over the summer.
If your work study money isn’t enough for “non school bills” then you’ll have to maybe work ANOTHER job during the school year…like a weekend job
No. Listen again. Work study money provides funds to your university to hire you and pay you for a job that is funded with WS funds. You will only get paid for the actual hours you work…just like ANY other job.
If you decide to use your earnings to pay for some of your billable costs, that is your decision. You will not have that money, however, until and IF you earn it.
Your maximum number of dollars earned from this work study job would be $1500 a semester. You might earn less than that…you might not actually earn that amount. It would depend. But your work study amount earned cannot exceed that $1500 a semester.
The money you earn from work study is yours…just like any other job.
In my opinion, you should plan on having that $1500 per term covered in some different way because you don’t KNOW if you will actually earn $1500 a term. Summer job, money from gifts, etc. Most people use their work study earnings for their personal expenses…which they also can control in terms of amount.
There is no “typical” number of hours for WS jobs. You will need to apply for these jobs, and sometimes interview for them as well. Some WS jobs are 5 hours a week. Others are 10-15. Most are not more than that because your WS funds are insufficient to actually pay you more.
Think of work study as giving you an inside track on a lot of campus jobs (some jobs are ONLY available to work study students). But you still don’t want to dawdle on applying for them when you get to campus, as older students will have the inside track on the plum jobs (I think of plum jobs as either ones that help you advance your knowledge/experience in your major, or that you can study while you are doing!). Some colleges require all WS students to work in the cafeteria the first year, too. (one of my kids’ schools did this).
You work at your WS job and get a paycheck, just like with a non-WS job. But they will only allow you to work up to the amount of your WS for the semester. And if you don’t work that much, you don’t get the remaining money.
One of my kids was awarded WS, but wasn’t able to work that much due to the rigor of her college. They still awarded her the same amount of WS the next year (and again she wasn’t able to work that much). But some students at less rigorous colleges (or in less rigorous courses or study, or taking a lighter load of classes) work an extra job on top of WS. But I certainly wouldn’t recommend that a freshman try that. And taking a lighter load can mean longer to graduate… so not really helping you financially at all.
Oh okay. I get it now.
So do you all think it’s better to get a non Work-Study job or to get a Work-Study program job?
If I were to not get the $1500 for a semester, do I take out loans to pay for the outstanding amount in addition to the other loans that are part of my financial aid package?
I’m sorry for the confusion, obviously I’m an incoming freshman and I don’t know how I’m going to pay for college. 
@mom2collegekids Okay, so as part of my financial aid package, should I take the Work-Study FA with a grain of salt? Your sample financial aid is similar to the UF net cost calculator that I calculated. They’re saying the net cost is 10,000 and about $7000 would be from loans and $3000 from work-study, so I would have to try to come up with 10,000 on my own just in case the whole work-study doesn’t earn me that amount? (My EFC is 0, so I would actually have to maybe take it all out in loans) You were really helpful!!
@Liz1497, work study isn’t like federal student loans that are dispersed to the college to cover expenses like tuition and room and board. If you don’t have grants, money from your parents, money from summer jobs, and federal student loans lined up to cover tuition, room & board, fees, and books without the work study money, that college may be too expensive for you.
Work study money is for incidentals: toiletries, unexpected fees (we all have unexpected expenses), perhaps going out now and then. You have to budget that money so it covers your entire semester. If you don’t get a job right away or you don’t get the maximum # of work hours you’re allowed, you won’t have money early in the semester and you may not have a consistent amount. If your award was $1600/semester for a 16 week semester, it would be tempting to figure you’ll have $100/week. You can’t depend on that.
Apply as soon as you get to campus as intparent suggested. Just make sure the school’s major expenses are affordable without it.
@austinmshauri …okay I think I OFFICIALLY got it. The work-study isn’t necessarily for the university, since the COA includes personal expenses. If all the FA the school gives me is enough to cover tuition, books, and room and board, then the Work Study money could be used for my “person expenses” that was included in the COA?
I think work study jobs are generally better. They are just better jobs… on my kid’s campus, they are graders for profs, jobs in admissions, jobs in the library, etc. And while cafeteria jobs aren’t the best, they are very convenient and often pretty flexible on your hours/days in a way that an employer off campus might not be. I was often bummed at my state flagship that jobs I wanted were only work study…
When a school “bills you” they only include the “direct school” bills such as tuition, room and board, and fees? The person expenses (cell phones, laundry, and travel) are not included?
I’m a first time college student so I have nobody that can explain to me how college expenses/billing/paying for it works.
It sounds like the max student loans you can qualify for on your own are already included in your package. Your going to have to come up with the $3k elsewhere. Private loans firstly would be more debt than you should take on and secondly would require a cosigner. If you can’t bridge that $3k gap in some way, the school may not be affordable for you.
As for work-study vs. non-work study, either way if you are employed by the school while a student, social security and medicare tax won’t be taken out of your pay. If you work for McDonalds or another non-school employer, they will be.
@intparent That’s what I was thinking.
I guess I just have to wait for my official financial aid package to figure out how it’s all going to work!
Yes, exactly. You can use it as your spending money, but be sure to budget for necessities (like the shampoo, toothpaste, & other boring stuff that mom & dad pay for now). I suggest saving a little for unexpected expenses if you can manage it.
@annoyingdad Yeah that’s what I’m getting from all of this. I would have to find the $3k elsewhere and use the work-study for personal expenses.
Hopefully the school offers me merit scholarships that are not included in the net price calculator.