<p>Part of the FA package S received includes about $3100 in work study. In thinking about how many hours it will take during the semester to earn this much is a concern. I don't know exactly what the hourly pay is for those jobs, and if taxes are then taken out, but it seems like an awful lot of hours/week working. I know from my D who is already in college is never able to complete all the hours that she is eligible for so she loses that money. </p>
<p>I don't know exactly what the hourly pay is for those jobs, and if taxes are then taken out, but it seems like an awful lot of hours/week working. I know some jobs kids can actually study during those hours, but D never seems to get ones with that privilege. Do you think the school would reconsider the amount of WS included on an already very generous package?</p>
<p>Schools offer the money in the package, but students do not have to work that much (or at all). If there is no gap in the package … that is, if the total of all aid + the EFC = the Cost of Attendance (not including parent loans!) … it might be worth trying to bargain for more grant in place of work study. It probably won’t work, but it’s worth a try. If there is a gap, though, it doesn’t make a difference how much work study is in the package.</p>
<p>One thing I will point out is that work study is need based. If the student was not awarded any subsidized loan or was awarded less than the maximum amount of subsidized Stafford loan for the year in school, she can request that work study be reduced & then the subsidized portion of the loan can be increased.</p>
<p>Is the work study 3100 each semester ($6200 or the year) or 3100 for the school year (1550) per semester? If it is $1550 per semester and the going rate is $7.50 an hour, for a 15 week semester, your son will have to work ~13-14 hours per week.</p>
<p>sybbie719 It is for the year, and that’s about what I was thinking the hours would come down to. I guess between classes, homework there is only so much time left and a choice has to be made between EC’s and Work 
The school he is attending is a no loan school, but are you saying that if he wants he can choose to take a subsidized loan instead of the WS as long as he is eligible from a FAFSA point of view?</p>
<p>I agree with parents who believe that students should not work their first semester in school (in order to get acclimated to their new environment). However, working 13 hours a week is not onerous. I believe that this is their way of having skin in the game. If he is looking to go to grad/professional school he may want to keep his loans to a minimum.</p>
<p>He can break it out minimally to 3 hours a day. Holding a work study job is good for when he begins to look for summer internships and permanent employment. If he attends a school with a wide range of work study jobs (not all jobs are grunt work), he could possibly get a job doing research (if that is his interest), working for a professor, or one of the administrative offices at the school. All of these are transferable skills. In addition, students who do work study do better academically in college because they have to learn time management.</p>