On paper, on-campus work is a great opportunity for students. It provides them with a source of income, a chance to make connections with faculty and staff, gain experience in different fields, and find a job that matches their schedule. However, many of these attractive on-campus jobs require students to be eligible for Federal Work Study (FWS).
FWS is a needs-based program in which students are eligible based on their financial information submitted via their FAFSA. In theory, FWS is a great system that allows students who may be struggling financially to do on-campus work to help ease tuition costs. However, there’s a major problem with how widespread the implementation of FWS on campus is as it prevents many potential students who are not eligible for FWS, from receiving pay for their work.
As stated on the Student Employment page of sxu.edu: “Majority of positions at the institution do require Federal Work Study eligibility.” This includes tech jobs at the Hub, student media, and even lab assistant jobs. The limited number of non-FWS jobs are almost all tutoring or peer mentoring.
Though there are many students on campus who are qualified for FWS and able to take these jobs, there are many others who are not qualified. While some of these students simply choose not to work on campus, others do on-campus jobs as volunteers, and work for free.
“There should be more jobs on campus that don’t require FWS because the majority of jobs available are FWS. If more were not FWS, it may be easier to fill needed job positions.” stated one member of the editorial board on the difficulty in filling positions due to FWS requirements.
A great example of this is the Xavierite itself. Although the paper has both FWS-qualified writers and volunteer writers, several important positions still remain unfilled. Although there may be a number of reasons for this, payment could certainly be an incentive for more people to apply.
Although FWS is a needs based program, making most on-campus jobs non-FWS disregards the costs that many students face. Textbook costs, food costs, and dorm living are all significant financial burdens that having an on-campus job could help alleviate. Compared to off-campus work, on-campus work is flexible in schedule and helps diminish transportation costs.
As another member of the editorial board commented: “Everyone should have the opportunity to earn money from working on campus. Just because someone isn’t FWS eligible doesn’t mean they don’t need the money.”
While the FWS program certainly has its benefits, its role in making most on-campus jobs exclusive has made it a dirty word for some students. Students who are willing to put in work should be able to earn money for their efforts. Making more jobs on campus non-FWS would solve problems for both students and organizations on campus.