<p>I heard from a friend that at FAU and Nova Southeastern that if you do Work Study the school pays for your text books and your dorm and other amenities. Is that true and if it is what do they pay for and does anyone know if UCF does the same? Does it also depend on which job you have?</p>
<p>Nova is a private school, FAU public, so most likely any program at Nova will not be the same as at FAU. Contact Nova directly and ask.</p>
<p>Work Study is a federal program where the school is reimbursed for payment for jobs done by qualified students. You get a job, and you get paid for it. Since you need to qualify for it by showing need, it is possible that Nova decided student who qualify will also qualify for books. Very unlikely they’d also qualify for dorm and ‘other things’ just because they qualified for work study. Check with Nova directly.</p>
<p>Picky, I think there is some confusion going on. Federal work study is something you can be awarded based on your income numbers on FAFSA. This program only gives you some hours on campus, sometimes off too, that you can work and get an hourly wage for, usually around $8 to $12. If a college has a work program that is separate and greater than that, it will be on their website in the financial aid pages or under student employment. </p>
<p>These 2 universities seem to just offer regular Federal Work Study. Now there might be other financial aid you can get that covers some of the costs you list. Are you familiar yet with how aid works and what your are eligible for? There can be federal aid, state aid and aid from the school itself, as well as possible outside scholarships to apply for.</p>
<p>Federal Aid = pell grant, federal direct loan, work study</p>
<p>School aid = need based grants, merit aid (scholarship) - direct employment paying hourly rate may be available if you have hours in your schedule</p>
<p>Edit to add: I just remembered that sometimes you can apply to be a RA or Resident Advisor and it may come with free housing but this is pretty much never available for freshmen and is competitive to get such a position which comes with a great deal of responsibility that isn’t ideal for everyone.</p>
<p>No School is going to give you enough work study to pay for your dorm. Most schools have policies that you cannot use work study for billable expenses (tuition, room, board, fees). </p>
<p>While you may have work study in your financial aid package, you must first find a job (not every student with work study in their package finds a job), then work the job. Work study checks are cut ~ every 2 weeks based on the number of hours that you work. Most of the money generated by work study is used for pocket money and sundry items(doing laundry, shampoo, personal items etc).</p>
<p>You should not go into this thinking that you will use work study to pay for text books (with the high cost of textbooks, your work study check may not even cover the cost of a text book). If you are dependent on work study monies to pay for your text books (which could be weeks before you get a job, work and get paid), it could be a recipe for disaster. </p>
<p>There are many start up cost associated with going to college. One of the best things that you could do for your self now is get a job and start saving money for text books, room items, school supplies)</p>
<p>I think that friend is VERY confused.</p>
<p>First of all, WS is very limited and most kids do NOT get it. </p>
<p>Secondly, the awards are low…typically $1500-2000 per year. Not enough to pay for dorms. Can’t really pay for fall books with it because you have to earn the money first…and you need your books the first week of school. And, dorms get paid before you arrive at school…and cost more than WS provides.</p>
<p>Work study usually just provides some pocket money to cover day to day expenses. </p>
<p>Thanks for all the clarification everyone, I found everything to be very helpful.</p>