<p>How can you qualify for work study?
In the financial aid package, do I have to accept parent plus loans for it?</p>
<p>if u weren’t initially awarded work-study, then i think you need to speak with someone at your financial aid office and ask if you can get it. i don’t think it’s contingent upon your accepting any loan(s), but call the financial aid office at your school to make sure.</p>
<p>Work study is need based. So first, you must have need (as determined by the school’s COA less your EFC less any other aid /scholarships you have). But even if you have need, you may not be able to get it. Work Study has very limited funding and schools have more students eligible for WS than they have funds to offer. Once they have awarded the WS funds they have, they can not award any more. </p>
<p>My daughter had WS two years and didn’t get it this year even though she has unmet need. By the time her school got to her FAFSA (which we filed in january), the school was out of WS funds. When she asked them about it they told her she was eligible, but they ran out.</p>
<p>Found this on another of your posts:
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<p>Contact your college FA office to see why you didn’t get work study. I’m guessing it’s because you already received enough grants/scholarships to cover a big portion of your tuition (please note I said tuition, not cost of attendance) OR you didn’t qualify for aide and/or did not file a FAFSA on time.</p>
<p>My DS only had a $400 WS allocation from one of the UCs and he qualified for Blue & Gold. Work Study is a federal program.</p>
<p>From the Work Study website:
The FWS Program provides funds that are earned through part-time employment to assist students in financing the costs of postsecondary education. Students can receive FWS funds at approximately 3,400 participating postsecondary institutions. Institutional financial aid administrators at participating institutions have substantial flexibility in determining the amount of FWS awards to provide to students who are enrolled or accepted for enrollment. Hourly wages must not be less than the federal minimum wage.</p>
<p>Call your financial aid office. My older daughter did not qualify for federal work study for her first three years (then sister started college) but the school itself offered oncampus jobs to students who requested them. She worked in the financial aid office.</p>
<p>Younger sister qualified for workstudy her first two years, but not the third, since her RA job for that year put her above the threshhold. The school paid her out of their funds because they wanted to keep her in her workstudy position rather than train someone else to set up labs.</p>
<p>Your school may offer similar arrangements.</p>