Work-Study

Work-Study Eligibility

Work-study is based on financial need as determined by FAFSA. Funds are awarded as part of your financial aid package. You’ll need to meet the following criteria to be considered for work-study:

• Enroll at least half-time (minimum of 6 credits for undergraduates or 5 credits for graduates).
• Submit the FAFSA and have demonstrated financial need
• Maintain Title IV Eligibility
• For initial awards (offered in April and May for the following fall semester), you must also:
  • Answer “Yes” to the FAFSA Question: “Are you interested in being considered for work-study?”
  • Submit the FAFSA by the February 15 priority date.
  • After initial awards are offered, we will make offers from our waiting list. Requests are processed in date order of submission.

Note: Work-study funding is limited. Meeting the above criteria does not guarantee an award.

Rules and Limitations

• Work-study funding is only available if you have received a work-study award.
• Work-study jobs are limited to no more than 20 hours per week.
  • Important Note: University policy allows all student employees to work up to 29 hours per week (or 40 hours during school breaks). All additional hours worked above the 20 hour work-study limit must be paid from departmental funds. This will require the student to be hired in an additional job assignment, as a regular student employee, to submit any extra hours.
• You cannot work during regularly scheduled class hours you are enrolled in.
• Your work-study assignment will end, and work must stop for your work-study job assignment, in any of the following scenarios:
  • You earn your full award amount within the aid year.
  • On the last day of classes of any term, for students who are graduating and/or are not attending at least half-time during the following term.
  • You no longer meet federal eligibility, including:
    • Your enrollment drops below half-time.
    • You are not meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP).
    • You receive another award that reduces your Cost of Attendance (COA), causing your financial need to drop and lower your award amount or cancel it altogether.

How do I get a work-study award?

Awards are initially assigned at the end of spring, for the upcoming aid year, for continuing students who have met the priority deadline and all eligibility requirements. After the initial awards are made, we assign them manually from a waitlist. Funding is limited, so awards are not guaranteed for all students.

For students who did not receive an initial award: Submit a waitlist request

I’ve been offered a work-study award. Now what?

Congratulations! The first step to receiving your work-study award is accepting it in your Student Center. We recommend accepting your award if you intend on using it, even if you don’t have a job yet. This lets us know that you are still interested. Work-study is optional, not a requirement. You don’t have to pursue employment, employment is not guaranteed, and there is no penalty for declining this part of your award package.

• We may cancel your award after 30 days, if you have not accepted it, so other students can be awarded from the waitlist.
• If you do not intend on using your work-study award, you can decline it. This will help free up funds for another student on the waitlist to be awarded.
• Declining your work-study award could make you eligible for more loans. Likewise, canceling subsidized loans may make you eligible for more work-study funds. Contact us to discuss your options.

How do I find a job?

If you do not already have a job lined up, you can find a job and apply through Handshake. While many jobs are eligible for work-study, not all meet federal requirements. Be sure to look for postings indicating a work-study position. Once hired, you work to earn a paycheck every two weeks.

• • Career Services can assist you with the job search process including using Handshake, resume and cover letter assistance, and tips for improving your interviewing skills.

What if I am already working as a student employee? Can my current position count toward work-study?

Possibly. If you are already working and receive a work-study award, you can ask your supervisor if your position is work-study eligible. If they determine that it is, they will need to hire you into another work-study specific job assignment so funding can come from us. You will then submit hours under the newly created job assignment number on your timesheet.

• We recommend not to terminate regular student employee job assignments until all work ends. This allows you to submit any potential hours outside of work-study regulations with ease.

How do I get my Work-Study funding?

You’ll receive funding once you start working and earn bi-weekly paychecks. The award amount offered to you represents the maximum amount you are eligible to earn in a work-study position.

• Enter, Save or Submit Your Time Card (pay close attention to steps 6 & 7 for selecting the correct work-study job assignment, which attaches accurate funding and time reporting codes)

• Work-study funding does not disburse to your student account to pay your fees. Instead, you will receive a paycheck from Boise State according to our payroll calendar.
• You may earn wages up to the amount offered in work-study funding. Once your total paycheck earnings reach your award limit, you must discontinue working and submitting hours under your work-study job assignment. Your employer may choose to pay your wages from a different funding source through a separate, regular student employee job assignment.
• Paycheck amounts vary based on the wage offered by your employer and number of hours you work. How much you earn overall is determined by your total paycheck earnings throughout the aid year.
• Unused funds cannot be carried over to the next academic year.

When can I work?

• All work can be performed at any time between July 1 and the end of the fiscal year (usually the second week of June), for the academic year in which you were awarded.
• You must be rehired, with a new job assignment, each year so earnings are correctly assigned to your aid year award.
• You may work at any time within a semester as long as you are enrolled at least half-time.
  • You may work up to 20 hours per week with your work-study job assignment.
  • During summer and winter breaks, you may work up to 20 hours per week as long as you are enrolled at least half-time for the upcoming semester. 
  • The majority of work-study assignments will end on the last day of classes for Fall or Spring term, depending on each student’s enrollment.

Please view our comprehensive resource guide for detailed regulations, program management, and other useful links to help answer questions about work-study.

Work-Study Resource Guide

How can I find out if a student is eligible for work-study?

A campus report is in development, but not ready yet. We will let our Work-Study Supervisors and Department Managers Group know as soon as it is available. Please do not submit any separate data requests to OIT for this information. They are working diligently on getting accurate data for you to look up students and it will be ready soon.

While the report is still in development:

• Email us at faworkstudy@boisestate.edu with the student ID and information you are requesting. We will get to your request as quickly as possible, but please allow up to 5 business days.
• The candidate hire form in Campus Solutions automatically checks for eligibility. If you have a student ready to hire, and they are not eligible on the form they may not be meeting one of the following requirements:
  • They must have an accepted award. If they have an offer, but have not accepted it yet, let them know they need to do so in their Student Center before you can hire them.
  • They must be enrolled at least half-time.
  • They must meet all other federal eligibility requirements and not have any negative service indicators, such as a SAP hold, that is preventing them from receiving aid.

Hiring Regulations

Awards are specific to each Academic Year. Therefore, students must be hired into new job assignments and separated by the end of the year to accurately match their total earnings to their award amount. Job assignments may NOT roll over from one year to the next, even if they are working in the same position.

• You may choose to hire them for a second, regular student employee job assignment, with your department funding to provide seamless timesheet submissions if you plan to have them continue working beyond work-study regulations. This includes more than 20 hours per week or over summer break while we setup the new aid year awards. The student will need to select the correct job assignment number when submitting their time sheet to separate their work-study hours from the regular student employee hours.
• Students may begin working using their work-study awards as early as July 1 each year. This allows us time to reconcile earnings and close out the aid year, update the hiring form to reflect the upcoming aid year, and perform other “rollover” tasks as needed without overlapping data from the previous year.
• Students must stop working and may not submit any further hours for their work-study job assignment in any of the following scenarios:
  • They have earned their full award amount within the aid year.
  • On the last day of classes of any term, for students who are graduating and/or are not attending at least half-time during the following term.
  • They no longer meet federal eligibility, including:
    • Their enrollment drops below half-time.
    • They are not meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP).
    • They receive another award that reduces their Cost of Attendance (COA), causing their financial need to drop and lower their award amount or cancel it altogether.
• Students must be enrolled half-time or greater for the following semester to be allowed to work during winter or summer break. This means:
  • During winter break, they must be enrolled for Spring.
  • At the start of Summer term, they may continue to work using that aid year’s award, through the end of the fiscal year, if they are enrolled in the summer term.
  • Starting July 1, they must be enrolled in Fall and have an award for the upcoming aid year.
• The absolute last day for all students to work in any year is the last day of the fiscal year. This is usually the second week of June. Please refer to the payroll calendar.

Useful Job Aids

• Before You Begin
• On-Campus Student Employment – Information for Supervisors
• Hire a Student Employee
• Enter, Save or Submit Your Time Card (pay close attention to steps 6 & 7 for selecting the correct work-study job assignment, which attaches accurate funding and time reporting codes)