Federal Work-Study

Westminster hires hundreds of students each year to work in various offices and departments, providing you an opportunity to connect with faculty, staff, and other students.

The Work-Study award does not guarantee a job on campus; you will need to apply, interview, and be hired. However, you do get to follow your interests and choose which jobs you apply for. You can apply to multiple positions at once. All Work-Study positions are posted on the Student Job Board.

If you have not been awarded Federal Work-Study, you can still have a job on campus, but some positions may only be available to students awarded Federal Work-Study.

Pro Tips:

• When you find a position you're interested in, confirm it is still available before you apply by sending a professionally worded email or making a phone call to the employer contact listed on the posting.
• For help building a resume and practicing your interview skills, contact the Career Center.
• During orientation weekend, the Career Center helps incoming students with finding and applying to campus jobs. The campus job fair is a great opportunity for you to meet hiring supervisors and learn about open positions and departments you can work for on campus.

You can only earn Work-Study between the start and end dates of each semester you have an offer and you must be enrolled in classes by the start of the term to earn your award.

You should begin working by October 1 for fall semester or February 1 for spring semester to keep their Work-Study offer active. If you won’t begin working right away, contact the Financial Aid Office to retain your Work-Study offer.

Undergraduate students must be enrolled in at least 6 credit hours to remain eligible for Work-Study. If you withdraw from Westminster or your credits drop below 6 hours, you must stop working on the day of last attendance.

If you are graduating, you may only work until the end of the semester.

On-campus jobs offer part-time employment. You can work between 1–20 hours per week. The number of hours you are eligible to work depends on the individual needs of the office or department where you work. Some positions might also offer variable hours per week.

The student employment handbook policy limits student employees to a maximum of 20 hours per week (or 40 hours bi-weekly pay period) during the fall and spring semesters. You may work up to 40 hours per week when no classes are scheduled for the entire week (e.g., spring break, winter break).

Any hours worked over 40 per week must be paid at 1.5 times the regular hourly pay rate and will not be subtracted from your Work-Study offer. You must have your employer’s permission prior to working overtime.

Unused Work-Study hours from the fall will carry over to the spring (the full year total remains the same); however, Work-Study does not carry forward after the spring semester.

The total amount of your Federal Work-Study award on your financial aid award letter lets you know how much you are eligible to earn during the school year. You are only allowed to earn up to the offered Work-Study amount listed for each semester. In other words, you can earn up to half your offer for the school year during fall semester.

The Federal Work-Study award amount will not be subtracted from your tuition bill. Instead, the award is what you are eligible to earn by working at a Work-Study job.

If you would like to work more hours than your offer allows and your employer has work available for you, you can submit a Work-Study request to increase your award as money is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Students work in virtually all areas of campus, but positions and pay rates vary. Pay begins at minimum wage (currently $9.50) to a maximum of $11.50 per hour for most positions. Some skilled positions have a higher rate of pay.

Work-Study is taxable income, and students are considered employees of Westminster. Student employees complete all typical IRS forms and receive a W-2 each spring for their previous year’s earnings.

Once hired, you'll be added to Westminster's payroll system. Employees are required to have direct deposit. Student employees are paid every other Friday. You can view and print pay information from Self-Service. Your employee payroll account is separate from your tuition billing account.

• Federal Work-Study supervisor checklist
• Career Center supervisor resources