The Federal Work-Study Program offers an opportunity for you to earn money while gaining valuable job experience. Eligibility is determined by financial need as indicated on your FAFSA. You can make use of your award by applying to positions that accept your work-study award. Once you have been hired and begin working, you will receive bi-weekly paychecks, which will be deducted from your work-study award.
What is the Federal Work-Study Program?
What is community work-study?
The Community Work-Study (CWS) program is still a part of the work-study program at IU Indianapolis, but it refers to the off-campus employers who participate. These are nonprofit organizations in the Indianapolis community that must complete an approval process before hiring work-study eligible students. The CWS program engages community partners and students in meaningful work experiences that not only help partners reach their organizational goals but also help students learn and develop through community-based, real-world experiences.
Our CWS agency list is below, as well as what types of jobs they typically offer. You can find all open positions on our job platform, Handshake, by checking the "work-study" box under "all filters." This will show you the current FWS-approved positions, including CWS positions.
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Indianapolis Classical Schools (Herron, Herron Prep, Riverside) |
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Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention (CHIP) |
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Benefits of using your work-study
There are many benefits to utilizing your work-study award. Along with financial assistance, you can expect the following benefits:
- Exemption from FICA taxes (for federal work-study earnings).
- On the FAFSA, federal work-study earnings are excluded in determining expected family contribution for the next financial year.
- Gain work experience with either our community program or on-campus positions.
- Our community and on-campus employers understand you’re a student first. They’ll be flexible with your class schedule.
Want to learn more?
Description of the video:
SPEAKER 1: Welcome to the Office of Student Employment, and we are so excited to know that you have a federal work study award. It's time to get you familiar with individuals in our office.
MICHELE GEORGE: Welcome to the Office of Student Employment. My name is Michele George and I am the student employment consultant. In this role, I process work-study for the campus, Columbus, a little bit of Bloomington South, and Fort Wayne. In this video today, we're going to talk about community work-study and how you can use your work study award in one of those positions. I will also have some help today from the community work-study coordinator, Angie Cannon.
ANGIE CANNON: Hi I'm Angie Cannon. I'm the community work study coordinator. I work with students doing background checks and I-9 verifications. I also work with community work-study agencies, and I look forward to working with you in a community work-study program.
SPEAKER 1: Now that you have met Angie and Michelle, let us begin. By this time you may have received a notification on the Financial Aid Summary showing your federal work study award. This summary tells you how much the award is and the term for the award. An example may be an award of $3,000, which can show $1,500 for fall, and $1,500 for spring.
Note, the $3,000 amount is for the full academic term. The federal work study award is a set amount that you as the student will work to earn. Once you have been hired and begin working, you will receive biweekly paychecks, which will be deducted from your federal work-study award. To get your federal work-study award connected to your work-study approved position, a federal work-study authorization form must be completed by the student and the supervisor for the position that you're hired in.
Once the federal work-study authorization form is completed by both parties, the form is given to the department's payroll processor. The payroll processor must attach the federal work-study authorization form to the hire, or maintain eDoc for approval at the time of the submission.
Now you've been hired and you are an employee in on-campus or community work-study agency. During this time you can access your paychecks in the Employees Center through one.iu.edu. As an employee you will use a service named Kuali time to clock in and out of your shift. There are other benefits to being an employee at IUPUI, and you can see them in our student-employee video.
Here are some highlights of the benefits of using a federal work-study award. Exemption from FICA taxes. Federal work-study earnings are excluded in determining expected family contribution for the next financial . year. Gain work experience with either or on-campus or community work-study agencies. Our community and on-campus employers understand you're a student first. They'll be flexible with your class schedule.
Enjoy your time and your journey as a student employee. And if you have any questions or concerns, please know that you can contact us at fwsjobs@iupui.edu. Have a great year, students.
For more information about federal work-study, watch this video to learn the process of work-study, benefits of using your work-study award, and who our work-study coordinators are! If you have any additional questions, email us at fwsjobs@iu.edu.
You have a work-study award. . . . now what?
Below you'll find instructions, videos, and documents to help you successfully use your work-study award.
If you submitted your FASFA, you could be eligible for the Federal Work-Study Program. View the step-by-step instructions below on how to check your award status.
How to see if you have a work-study award:
- Go to One.IU.
- Type "view/manage my financial aid information" into the search bar.
- Select the term you would like to view.
- If you have been offered a federal work-study award, it will be listed in your financial aid summary.
All IU Indianapolis students must accept their award through One.IU to have it applied to their financial aid package. View the below step-by-step instructions on how to do this.
How to accept your federal word-study award:
- Log into your Student Center on One.IU.
- Click on the "Financials" section to view the drop-down menu.
- Click on "Accept/Decline Award" and click on the appropriate term.
- Accept the Award
For a thorough walkthrough of how to access your Financial Aid Summary, watch this video.
Students must apply to a part-time position that accepts federal work-study funds. View the guidelines below on how to find these positions and what is required to link your award to your job.
How to earn your award:
- Students must apply to part-time positions that accept federal work-study. These positions can be found through Handshake, our job search platform. Once you access Handshake, you can find work-study jobs by checking the "work-study" box under "all filters." Before searching for jobs, be sure to check out our Prepare to Search webpage to learn about what application materials you will need before you apply.
- Finally, students and their supervisors must complete the AY 2024–2025 form. This form connects your award to the payroll processor. Complete your portion of the form, then pass it along to your supervisor.
Students are responsible for tracking their work-study award. If your award is depleted before the end of the academic year, you have the option to submit an increase request. View the steps below about tracking your award and submitting the increase request form.
How to track your award:
- Our Work-Study Calculator can help you determine how long your award will last based on hourly wage, hours per week, and award amount. Our Funds Tracker gives you the option to manually track your award by keeping a record of your bi-weekly paychecks.
- If you would like to increase your award amount, you can submit a Federal Work-Study Award Increase Request. If you have any questions about your submission, you can email fwsjobs@iu.edu. Below are the following requirements:
- Have worked at least one month in your position.
- Have exhausted 75% of your award.
- Have unmet financial need as seen in your financial aid packages.
For additional resources, check out our Work-Study Resources webpage.
Frequently asked questions
You will receive your funds in the form of bi-weekly paychecks in accordance with IU Indianapolis' payroll schedule. You have the option of setting up direct deposit with your bank account. If you don't want set up direct deposit, IU Indianapolis will give you a Visa check card. Your paychecks will then be deposited onto that card.
No. Students receive their funds through their bi-weekly paycheck. With every paycheck, the amount earned is deducted from your work-study award. The paycheck will either be direct deposited into your chosen bank account or deposited onto a Visa check card. Once you have earned your money, you are not required to use it for school expenses if you do not want to. This money is yours to use however you need.
There are work-study opportunities available off- and on-campus! Both can be found on our job search platform, Handshake. When you search for work-study positions be sure to check the "work-study" box under "all filters." Then, you'll find positions located on-campus and from our community program.
All work-study positions are part-time. Students can find on-campus positions anywhere from the IT Department to the School of Medicine. Most on-campus employers will accept work-study, it's simply a matter of asking. Our community program includes organizations such as America Reads, the Indiana State Library, the Milk Bank, and New Beginnings.
In order to receive federal work-study, students must file for the FAFSA. Depending on the your financial need, you may be awarded work-study. To see if you are, you can go to One.IU and type "View/Manage My Financial Aid Information" into the search bar. By navigating to the "View Financial Aid" option, you can see if you were awarded federal work-study. You may also check the "Accept/Decline Awards" section, too.
No. Federal work-study isn't like a loan. Once you accept your award and find a position that accepts work-study, you earn your award in the form of bi-weekly paychecks, and it's your money to keep.