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EducationDive
Future
of work-study: How colleges' role in student employment is changing
The Federal Work-Study program needs an overhaul, its critics say,
raising questions about who the program should serve, and how.
James Paterson
May 9, 2019
A familiar chunk of financial aid, work-study has for years slid
job-hungry students into easy-to-learn and fluid positions that
colleges might otherwise struggle to fill, especially so inexpensively.
It even sometimes bridges the gap with the business community or
encourages students to connect with the people who make their college
work. And in many cases, the federal or state government foots at least
half the bill.
But new research from several quarters suggests the Federal Work-Study
(FWS) program's cranky, decades-old funding formula is unfair and
unworkable, and that students should get more out of the experience
than they currently do.
That is especially true in an economy in which the practical value of
college is continually scrutinized and businesses are clamoring for
job-ready graduates with hard and soft skills that they've honed
through work experience.
Some question whether FWS jobs actually go to students with the
greatest need, and critics of the program contend those hour- and
salary-restricted positions often don't pay enough. Those problems are
often true of non-FWS campus jobs, too, contributing to a broad push to
add value to the types of employment colleges offer students.
"Work-study programs for some time have not gotten a lot of attention,
but that's changing," said Iris Palmer, a senior education policy
analyst at New America, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, who has
studied and written about work-study. On campuses and in Washington,
she said, new ideas for student employment are emerging, along with the
momentum for change.
Federal Work-Study today
The desire to prepare students for careers and improve their financial
security are the two biggest reasons colleges offer work-study
programs, according to a recent report by NASPA-Student Affairs
Administrators in Higher Education that was based on a survey of 244
institutions as well as interviews with campus officials and site
visits. Two-thirds of colleges also said they hope it will improve
retention/completion and student connections to campus.
FWS employed about 600,000 undergraduate and graduate students during
the 2017-18 school year, and it makes up a varying portion of campus
employment. It is the largest source of student employment funding for
two-thirds of public two-year colleges, according to NASPA. And more
than one-third of private nonprofit four-year colleges and one-fourth
of public four-years say it is their largest source.
Meanwhile, department funds made up nearly half of financial support
for student employment at public four-year colleges. A similar share of
institutional funding footed the bill at private nonprofit four-year
institutions.
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