Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program

FWS Student Information

Introduction to the Federal Work-Study Program

Federal Work-Study is a federally subsidized work program, which provides on-campus and off-campus employment opportunities to eligible undergraduate and graduate students with financial need.  The FWS program provides part-time employment to students attending CSUF who need the funding to help meet their costs of post-secondary education.  Through the Work-Study Program, students engage in work for the University and non-profit agencies (as defined by the Internal Revenue Service).  Students employed through the Work-Study Program provide essential services to the University and to the community that enable them to gain valuable work experience.

Award Amounts

Student FWS award amounts vary. Student’s with New FWS awards are awarded $4500, students who have had FWS in the prior year are awarded $5000.  Once the Fall semester has begun we will be able to determine if we are able to make increases. The awards are to be earned throughout the academic year and not completely exhausted in one semester. Employers are encouraged to monitor student earnings to ensure that the student does not earn more than their FWS award. If the student has exhausted their FWS award your department can choose to rehire the student as a regular student assistant to continue the student’s employment. Students can earn up to 20% of their FWS award during the months of July and August.

Job Posting

At CSUF we award FWS annually during early summer for the upcoming academic year.  We ask employers to post available positions with the Career Center via Titan Connection indicating that the job is for FWS students (FYI - student’s without FWS awards may still apply for your open position as they often misunderstand the hiring criteria).  Directions for posting your positions are attached.

Interviewing

We encourage employers to request that students bring a print out of their financial aid awards so you can confirm they have an FWS award and see how much the award is for.  The FWS award is very clearly listed on the students award screen in their Student Portal.

Student Assistant Regulations

FWS students are processed by Human Resources and Payroll in the same manner as Student Assistants.  This means that employers should be aware of all Student Assistant hiring procedures and policies.  

All student Assistants, FWS students must be enrolled in a minimum of 6 units and are not allowed to work more than 20 hours a week during the academic sessions. Additionally, FWS Students must maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) and Employers must provide the Financial Aid office with a copy of the job description and update the FA office of any changes in the position or the student’s employment status.

Additional resources and information can be found at Human Resource website for Student Employment. 

How is the Student Assistant program different from the Federal Work Study?

As an employer you pay 100% of the student assistant earnings.  With FWS student earnings the federal government pays 75% (this is called the Federal Share) and you pay only 25%.

There are different Federal Shares for Community Service. The attached FWS New Community Service Partner Outreach document discusses the basics of this program which is able to provide 90% Federal Share to Community Service positions and 100% Federal Share for those positions that provide tutoring in Mathematics and Reading (see the attached Tutoring FSA Guidelines for specific descriptions).