Work Study

<p>This past March I received my award letter for my sophomore year of college. It showed that I had been awarded my scholarships, loans, and work study. I was planning on working for my previous boss I had through work study my freshman year. Then a few days ago, I received a call from her telling me I was now ineligible and asking me what happened. I had no idea that anything had happened. I never received any notices or revisions of a changed award letter through mail or email. My boss said she planned to fight them due to lack of notice. Can they legally take away something they awarded without proper notice? </p>

<p>Check your student portal, and your aid award. Did you accept the work study award?</p>

<p>I checked my aid award and it clearly states “Federal Work Study” and lists the amount. As far as my student portal, I checked and financial aid has not posted any of my awards to my account. Below my award letter it states: “(College) will assume your acceptance of this award letter unless you state otherwise. Any revisions to this award will be sent by email.” By not responding, I did. </p>

<p>I spoke to the financial aid office two times after receiving my award letter. One time was to make sure I did not need any tax documents from my dad, and the other time was to get the invoice for my dad. </p>

<p>Also, I have combed through every dark corner of my email account to see if I ever received a revision. I could not find anything from financial aid aside from my award letter and confirmation of documents received (fafsa contracts).</p>

<p>Not all work study jobs are Federal Work Study eligible. Could be for any number of reasons your previous job did not meet the criteria. You need to as the FA office. And as Thumper stated, check online to make sure the work study is still listed, it could be you misunderstood and you did need to accept. </p>

<p>We all can guess until the cows come home (and I don’t live anywhere near a farm) as to what might be going on here. Just call the financial aid office and get an officer to pull up your account and directly ask what is going on here. Do let us know what the result is.</p>

<p>Definitely talk to the FA office to find it out. My D’s work study (and loan) was replaced by grant in the final aid package. So it is not necessary something bad. You just need to call to find it out. </p>

<p>Thanks for your advice! I was planning on calling the moment I found out. My boss was, however, attempting to work her own magic, and I did not want to call and potentially cause a problem for her. So I waited for her okay and gave them a call. I spoke to someone who worked in the financial aid office, and there is a note on my account saying I am ineligible. However, that’s all she could say and transferred me to a financial aid counselor. The counselor never answered and has yet to answer or return my calls. My dad has decided that he is going to write a formal complaint to the president of the university due to lack of communication and other issues. This may or may not help me get my work study back, but at least it may prevent this from happening to someone else at my university. I’ll let you guys know about the response my dad receives. </p>

<p>Did you register full time and at least 12 credits per semester? I am wondering what made you ineligible. Does the FA office say anything about the rest of your financial aid besides works study?</p>

<p>Yes, I am full time and have 15 credits for this semester. I still have not found out what made me ineligible. I have to wait to speak with a FA counselor, who is currently in a meeting, to find out exactly why. I am guessing that it is due to my dad making around $30,000 more this year. From what I read, they choose the “neediest” first. This seems to be one of the areas of FA where the amount of yearly income comes into play. The rest of my awards are fine. They can’t take away my scholarships because I have a 3.8 GPA (probation starts at 2.0), and they have no say in my student loans. </p>

<p>For everyone still interested in what happened, my dad proceeded to email the president of university and received a response last night. The president said that he will be speaking to financial aid to find out the exact problem and to help work out a solution. He also said that it is possible that it is a miscommunication. </p>

<p>Note: Financial aid counselors still have not sent revision or returned my multiple voicemails. </p>

<p>After a series of phone calls and emails today, I have been notified that I do have work study. There was apparently a miscommunication of some sort that has now been sorted out. </p>

<p>Terrific news!! Make sure to contact your employer with the good news!</p>