Work-study Resource Guide for Students

To be eligible for work-study, you must:

• Be an undergraduate or graduate student

• Meet and maintain Federal and Penn State Financial Aid Eligibility Requirements

• Submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

• Demonstrate financial need

• Complete the verification process

Due to limited funding, not all students who are eligible will receive an offer of Work-Study. If you are not offered Work-Study, other employment opportunities are also available.

Incoming first-year students who have submitted their FAFSA by the University’s recommended deadline and have indicated an interest in work-study on their Penn State application for admission will be considered during awarding. Penn State does not require a separate application for Federal Work-Study. If you are offered work-study, it will appear in your Student Aid Summary in LionPATH. Your offer of work-study must be .

Incoming first year students as well as returning students not offered Federal Work-Study may request consideration by contacting the . A valid FAFSA must be on file for consideration.

Due to limited funding, not all students who are eligible will receive an offer of Work-Study. You may also want to consider other employment opportunities.

If you have received Federal Work-Study as part of your student aid offer, CONGRATULATIONS!

• If you intend to obtain a work-study position, you will need to accept it in LionPATH.

• If you are not interested in this opportunity, please decline the offer. A guide to accept/decline your awards is available .

• If your Federal Work-Study offer is not accepted by October 15, it will be removed from your Financial Aid Offer

• If you have accepted your Work-Study, it will be available for the fall semester but will be reduced for the spring semester if you had no earnings in the fall.

If you have been offered Federal Work-Study, you can review all available positions and apply on the Penn State Careers website.

Search the job website:

• Filter your search by ‘campus’ and ‘federal work-study' to find the most appropriate opportunities for you.

• Positions are listed by job title with the most recently posted positions listed first. Each title is linked to a complete job description.

• Consider your academic interests, professional aspirations, position location, class schedule, and course load when determining if a position is right for you.

Apply for a position:

• Once you have selected a position (or positions), apply directly from the job posting page by selecting ‘apply.’ The online application takes only a few minutes to complete.

• You can apply for a Federal Work-Study position at any time, but you must accept your Work-Study in LionPATH for consideration.

• When interviewing for Federal Work Study positions you should clarify expectations with the potential employer regarding either on/off-campus/in person or remote work arrangements.

Other considerations:

• While the majority of positions are filled early in the fall semester, employers add jobs periodically throughout the year. Assume if a position is posted, the employer is still hiring.

• An offer of Federal Work Study does not guarantee a job position is available.

• Approval of remote and hybrid work is not guaranteed regardless of work location. For additional information on remote work at Penn State, see Notice to Out of State Applicants.

*Please note: Federal Work-Study positions require you to be ‘hired’ by the University. One necessary step in this hiring process is for you to attend an I-9 Verification appointment in-person. At this appointment, you will be required to present original supporting documentation. Please consider this requirement and plan to have those documents available in their original form for that appointment.

Undergraduate work-study students will typically earn $12.00/hour and graduate work-study students will typically earn $14.00/hour. Some positions, however, may offer a higher wage. Nittany Lions Read/Nittany Lions Count and Community Service work-study students will earn $14.00/hour.

Although a form of student aid, Federal Work-Study earnings are not applied as credit on your tuition bill. All wages earned are directly deposited into your checking or savings account every two weeks according to Penn State’s Bi-Weekly Pay Schedule.

Earnings are not applied as credit on your tuition bill. Wages earned through work-study are reported as "Earned Income" on the FAFSA for the subsequent year and may be deducted as "Title IV exclusions."

Submitting falsified time sheets is considered fraud against the University and the federal government; legal action may be taken against you. Federal regulation 34 CFR 668.16(g) requires the University to report to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General if a school has credible information that a student may have committed fraud or other criminal misconduct in connection with his or her application or eligibility for federal student aid.

Hours

Work-study participants may never work more than 8 hours/day and 20 hours/week when classes are in session. Should you hold more than one work-study position, the sum of all positions may not exceed these limits.

Offered Amounts

• Typical Federal Work Study per academic year is $4000 for undergraduate and graduate students

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• To ensure optimal use through the semester, plan your work schedule before you begin earning funds.

• Utilize simple math to best plan: (your salary) x (the number of hours you will work/week) x (the number of weeks you will work/semester) … if that total is less than or equal to your semester offer – you are set!... if that total is above your semester allotment – reconsider!)

• For example, an undergraduate work-study student earning $12.00/hour, planning to work 15 hours/week, wanted to work 14 weeks of the semester. That totaled $2520. Their work-study was $2000/semester. The student adjusted their weekly schedule to 12 hours/week, and they were able to work for 14 weeks as planned.

• Increases to Federal Work-Study may be available. Determinations on increases depend on available funding, continued eligibility, and your remaining federal financial need. Requests for increases to work-study may be made by contacting the Office of Student Aid.

Monitor your funds

• You are responsible for monitoring your balance and communicating with your manager as your funds near exhaustion.

• You will receive a warning email regarding the balance when you have earned 50% or more of your total funds for the academic year.

• You will receive a warning email when you are close to exhausting your funds.

• Over-earning can have negative impacts on your financial aid.

• At this time, supervisors are not informed directly by the Office of Student Aid.

Changes in eligibility

Federal Work-Study eligibility must be maintained at all times. Should you lose your eligibility it is your responsibility to communicate with your supervisor/manager.