<p>I received two of my Financial Aid Packets the other day. On both I was offered Work Study. However, one read Collge Work Study (offered less) and the other read Federal Work Study ( offered a bit more).</p>
<p>Is there a difference between Federal and College WS or they the same thing?
- Thanks</p>
<p>99.9% sure they're the same thing.</p>
<p>I actually was just reading about this on the back of one of my son's financial aid offers. Here is what it says: "Federal work-study: A federal program which is administered by the Office of Financial Aid. These funds allow students to secure jobs on campus. The dollar amount indicated in your award letter is the maximum amount you will be able to earn on campus during the academic year.
Campus work: These funds are provided by ___ University. The dollar amount indicated in your award letter is the maximum amount you will be able to earn on campus during the academic year. "</p>
<p>So Federal is funded by the government, campus by the college you attend. I have no idea if there are any differences on a practical level.</p>
<p>Minor difference from what you are saying, Susantm; cJgrl05 said that it is College Work Study, not campus work. It's not the 'college/federal' part that matters, it is the "Work Study" part.</p>
<p>Hearing that your son offers a financial award that specifies campus work is totally new to me, though -- so I stick by my 99.9% idea. :P</p>
<p>I think Campus work is the term this college used for College work study. In any case, I believe the basic idea is the same: Federal work study is paid for by the government; college work study is paid for by the college.</p>
<p>The deal with work study is this - The student is qualified to earn UP TO a certain amount for an aid year....the max amount possible is 4000 per year. This doesn't mean that's what the student will earn. They must find a work study job and apply and interview like finding any normal job, except these jobs are reserved for work study students so it shouldn't be difficult. The job sites may be on-campus or off-campus, any business really that participates in the program (though I'm inclined to believe that the "Campus Work" would apply only to jobx on-campus...they are probably the same in every other aspect).
They usually pay a little above minimum wage, and cannot require a student to work more than 20 hours a week, even less during midterms and finals week. So, a student may work only 10 hours a week and only earn $3000 in an aid year of their total $4000 work study award. That's it then. The ability to earn that other $1000 cannot be carried over for the next year.
The advantage of earning money through "work study" over getting a regular part-time job is this: The money earned through work study is not calculated as income for the next aid year! In other words, it's a way to earn some cash from a job and not have to report it on the fafsa for next year.
A regular part-time job that pays, say 20% more than a work study job would then have about the same effect on total cost for college, since a slightly higher EFC would eat up that 20% higher wage. Still, if a student finds a SWEET paying part-time job that pays a good deal more than a work-study job, it may be better for the student to decline work study.<br>
Another thing, if a student's work study award is only $3000 and they are awarded direct loans as well, they may request the Financial Aid Office to increase the work study amount up to the max of 4000 if they want to decline a portion of a loan award. This would keep the overall package total the same.
The need for funding by the federal government or the campus itself can be explained this way: A student earning 4,000 grand a year would, of course, raise their EFC by maybe, $200-$1000, depending on each situation (just a guess). With the work study program, the govt. or the university COVERS that additional EFC money that would have been required from the student if they had a regular part-time job that paid the same.
Sorry for the long post, but I know how hard it is to find the "right" info or a helpful FA officer to tell you everything the first time.</p>
<p>A few comments on writingwell's synopsis of the thing (which was very thorough, thank you!):</p>
<p>1) Not all schools cap it at $4000. Some cap it lower (my school caps it at $2600). You may be able to negotiate to get the national limit, but if your school posts a limit, it's usually a limit.</p>
<p>1a) You can only earn up to the limit the college gives you. If, for example, you have $2600, you can have work-study until you've earned $2600. Then the work-study is over. You can often extend the job, but then it's regular income.</p>
<p>2) Work-study is limited to 20 hours during the school term, BUT they do consider that you could be working up to 40-hours per week during winter vacation and spring break. Keep that in mind.</p>
<p>3) Work study is often WAY more flexible than any non-work study job, especially if you're on campus. They are much more likely to understand when a study session pops up, there's a special movie being shown, your class got switched to a room across campus and you had to RUN to make it 10 minutes late, etc. </p>
<p>4) Work study may not show up on the FAFSA, but it DOES show up on the CSS/PROFILE form. I don't know what the purpose of knowing this is, but it's there.</p>
<p>ok, thanks for the advice.
So, I guess, overall it is better to have a work-study program than just work on a regular job, like in a dept store or restaurant.</p>
<p>Is there any penalty for NOT earning the maximum allowed to the student? say, the student's package alllows $1500 for work study, but the student only earns $1000, will that somehow reflect the subsequent year's work study allowance? Is it better to accept it all on paper and so how it goes?</p>
<p>I believe you then owe that money out of your own pocket, but I'm not sure. Thats they way it is with my work study job.</p>
<p>Work study is awesome. Its incredibly flexible, they don't care if I take a day off because I have studying to do or am going home. Its also fairly easy work, and I get eight bucks an hour, with no taxes taken out.</p>
<p>bluejay: At my school, no. I was "awarded" $2600 in work study and earned less than $200 in it. This year, I was "awarded" $2600 in work study again (which is the maximum allowed).</p>
<p>If you don't earn the (in my case) $2600 they say you should earn, you need to come up with that $2600 to pay if it has to go to paying fees or room & board. If it goes toward books, or "personal expenses" or some such, it's money that you'd have to do without if it goes unearned.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>Is it difficult to get these jobs on campus? Or do they have quite a few openings. My work study is $ 2500. Will it be better to work on campus or off campus. And if i don't earn this amount do my parents have to pay it difference?</p>
<p>The Federal Work-Study Program (FWSP) is a federally funded program and was established by Congress through the Higher Education Act of 1965 to assist needy students earn money to meet educational costs. Participation in the program is determined by the student's financial need and is awarded as part of the financial aid package. Earnings are not applied directly to the tuition bill, but are used by the student to cover costs such as books, personal items, and transportation. FWSP funds may only be used on campus with on-campus employers or with approved off-campus community service employers. A large part of the wages offered through a federal work study job are funded by the government where as a non federal (College ) ork study job is not.</p>
<p>Employment(work study) is an alternative form of funding for student who do not qualify for work-study funds, usually for citizenship reasons. Regulation of the Employment program mirrors the FWSP in that a student must show a financial need to be eligible for such funding. Employment funds are not permissible for off-campus use.</p>
<p>If work study is given to you as part of your package, it is your choice as to whether or not you want ot take it. If you do not take it, your other financial aid will not be increased because you chose not to take a job. Most of the monies earned from work study will be used for your day to day expenses (pocket money).. Some parents do not wish their child to do work study the first year because they want them to be focused on academics and will make up the work study money. In the end it is a personal choice.</p>
<p>Is it possible to request more aid than was given by requesting an increase in the work-study amount? Also, please tell me if this is correct: If a student earned only the amount originally given, there would be no downside. But if a student earned more than the amount originally granted, the additional money earned would not increase the family's EFC. It does not seem like there would be a downside if the amounts of grants or loans were not changed....</p>
<p>Not often, boxmaker. The schools have a maximum work study award, and they set it to what they set it for a reason. You can always ask, but I wouldn't expect you to get it, particularly in a school which often awards the max work study allowed (like $2600 at my school; if I were awarded $2400 and asked for an increase, I might possibly get it; I <em>can't</em> get it from $2600, because that's the ceiling).</p>
<p>And no to your second question. If you earned out your work study award, you go into regular income. That means every dollar earned beyond my $2600 would count as regular (read: taxable) income.</p>
<p>Isn't there a certain amount you can make before you have to start filing federal taxes?</p>
<p>I never heard of that, tlaktan, unless the 'certain amount' is the maximum federal work study amount (which is, apparently, $4000).</p>
<p>"If you don't earn the (in my case) $2600 they say you should earn, you need to come up with that $2600 to pay if it has to go to paying fees or room & board. If it goes toward books, or "personal expenses" or some such, it's money that you'd have to do without if it goes unearned."</p>
<p>Does anyone know how we find out what the awarded work study is going towards?</p>
<p>I was awarded $1400 in "Wells Student Employment" which is likely funded partially by federal funds. The explanation says that a job will be assigned to me, but that I will need to complete an application (seems a formality like filling out a W-4). Minimum wage ($6 hourly until Jan. 1, 2006, when it increases to $6.75) for 10 hours a week.<br>
$60 a week seems like a lot to spend on ramen noodles and movie rentals, lol. I'm hoping that all of my first semester's expenses can be covered by my scholarships and aid. I wonder if they ration everything out?</p>