Page Contents

• Features of Federal Work Study
• Your Certification Period
  • The academic year period
  • The summer period
• Adding or Declining a Federal Work Study Award
• Tax Regulation Regarding FWS
• Reporting FWS Earnings on Your FAFSA

Division Coordinator's Page

Features of Federal Work Study

To be eligible for Federal Work Study(FWS), you must have financial need as determined by the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships (OFAS).

The Federal Work Study Program is a part-time employment program that can help you meet your cost of attendance by helping you to —

• keep your educational loan borrowing to a minimum,
• gain valuable work experience and skills, often in your field of study,
• work in designated jobs either on or off campus, and
• receive financial aid in the form of earnings each month.

If you have been awarded FWS, detailed information can be viewed by logging onto AidLink and selecting "Federal Work Study Program" within the Award Notification screen.

Your Certification Period

The Certification Period is the time you may work and receive FWS funds. 

There are two certification periods—

• the academic year  (fall and spring)
• summer

The academic year period:

The AY period begins the week before fall semester classes and ends May 31.

Important:  Budget your hours so that you earn no more than the fall portion of your FWS award during the fall semester.  Any unearned fall semester amount may be earned during the spring semester.

You must stop working when —

• you reach your Earnings Limit,
• your supervisor has expended the department's allocation, or
• the academic year ends, whichever occurs first.

The summer period:

The summer period begins June 1 and ends August 31.

• A supplemental application is required for summer and will be available online in PDF Forms in May.
• To participate in summer FWS, you must be attending SDSU currently and/or intend to enroll in classes at SDSU the following academic year.
• It is not necessary to attend summer school.
  • Important: If you are not enrolled in summer session, your summer earnings will affect financial aid eligibility for the following academic year.

Any unearned fall semester amount may be earned during the spring semester. However, any unearned academic year amount cannot be earned during the summer nor can any unearned summer amount carry over to the next academic year.  You forfeit the remainder of your Earnings Limit.

Adding or Declining a Federal Work Study Award

Contact a financial aid counselor to find out—

• whether or not you are eligible for a Federal Work Study award, even though it was not awarded to you initially, or
• how you may decline all or a part of your Federal Work Study award.

Tax Regulations Regarding FWS

All FWS earnings are considered taxable income and must be reported to the IRS, if you are required to file a tax return. Every FWS employee is sent a W-2 Form in January showing total earnings for the previous year.

Reporting FWS Earnings on Your FAFSA

Information about your earnings and Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) for the prior tax year are collected from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and is used to determine your eligibility for financial aid.

In order for the OFAS to exclude any FWS earnings that you report as part of your earnings and AGI, you must include those earnings on the FAFSA as a Title IV Income Exclusion. The FAFSA provides instructions on how to properly complete this item.