Federal Work-Study
The Federal Work-Study program provides an opportunity for students to earn money through part-time employment. Federal Work-Study is similar to any other job, with the major difference being that the federal government pays a portion of the earned wages and the campus employer contributes the remainder. Job opportunities may include either on-campus or local off-campus employers. Federal Work-Study eligibility is based on financial need and requires a student to submit a FAFSA for consideration.
Program features:
Funds are earned and paid during the course of the academic year
Maximum amount of funds are found on the aid notification
Student must maintain at least half-time enrollment, except during the Summer quarter
Students are permitted to work a maximum of 20 hours per week during regular terms and 37.5 hours per week during break periods (i.e. Winter break). For more information on University of Chicago policy, please refer to the Student Manual.
Jobs held during the Autumn, Winter and Spring quarters terminate at the end of the Spring quarter or the last date of enrollment, whichever comes first
Jobs held in the summer terminate at the end of the Summer quarter
Once a student has accepted their Federal Work-Study aid online, they will have access to the Employment Authorization Form. If you are hired into a Federal Work-Study position, you must provide your employer with your Employment Authorization Form. This form is unique to you, details your Federal Work-Study amount, and is required in order to be hired into a Federal Work-Study position. The form must be submitted to your employer before you can start working.
You can Accept or Decline your total Federal Work-Study (FWS) award online. However, if you would like to accept a reduced amount of your FWS award you may do so by indicating the amount of FWS you’d like for the year on the Financial Aid Change Request form. If you would like to convert your FWS eligibility to a Federal Direct PLUS (Grad PLUS) Loan, please decline the entire FWS award in my.UChicago.edu and include the amount in your request for additional GradPLUS Loan on the Financial Aid Change Request Form. The Financial Aid Change Request Form can then be uploaded to “Upload Application Materials” Under My Financial Aid at my.UChicago.edu
Accessing the Employment Authorization Form*:
Log in to my.UChicago.edu
Click Finances> Financial Aid
Select "FWS Employment Authorization" from the dropdown (make sure pop-ups blockers are disabled on the page)
*if experiencing trouble, make sure to clear the browser cache, or use a different browser
The Student Employment Office will notify a student once they are within $500 of the total allotment allowed. Once the earnings limit has been met, as indicated on the student's aid notification, the student can no longer participate in the program for that work period. However, a student may continue working in the position if the employer is willing to pay the full salary.