Determining Eligibility and Monitoring Earnings

Learn about how to determine student eligibility for FWS

• The information in this section is designed for Division Coordinators who hire students for Federal Work Study positions.

Determining student eligibility

Determining student eligibility for FWS
Learn how students can check their award status to determine if they have a FWS award, and what to do if a student has not been awarded FWS.

Monitoring student's earnings

• Students may earn no more than the Earning Limit (FWS award amount or allocation) set by the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships. Any earnings that exceed the student's FWS Earnings Limit must be paid entirely by the employer from Student Assistant or Departmental funds. 
• Students and supervisors are responsible for monitoring earnings to ensure that gross earnings do not exceed the Earnings Limit. Once the limit is reached, students must stop working under FWS. However, if your department has funds to match an increase, ask the student to contact the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships to see if an increase of their FWS award is possible.  

Maximizing earning limit within budget allocation

To maximize student's Earning Limits while not exceeding the allocated amounts, supervisors and students should plan the students' work schedule for the semester or academic year.

If a student is nearing the maximum of their earning limit, the student can contact the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships to see if they qualify for an increase. 

Students forfeit any amount not earned by the end of the award period (summer or academic year).

Any portion not earned during fall semester can be carried forward to the spring.

Unearned spring awards cannot be carried over to summer.

Resources for monitoring

The Center for Human Resources has created a Time & Labor Allocation Report (TL Allocation Report) available to FWS division coordinators. The report will provide a variety of payroll information including reportable and payable data that is accessible on a daily basis. If you are a FWS division coordinator, contact the Center for Human Resources to gain access. 

An internal monitoring system: the report should not be your only tool for monitoring student earnings. Your division and department should also implement a separate process to ensure that students do not underutilize or exceed their available earnings. It is suggested to use excel to track student's earnings and department expenditures.