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Federal Work Study - Student Employment

Hiring students for work-study positions

The Federal Work-Study (FWS) program enables eligible students to acquire work-study jobs, the wages for which are largely funded by the federal government. FWS recipients find their own jobs on campus. Although FWS appears as part of a student's financial-aid package, earnings do not credit directly to the bursar; rather, the student earns a paycheck based on an hourly pay rate. Wages vary but are never below minimum wage.

FWS is a type of campus-based award. This means that federal funds are provided to individual universities to administer at their discretion (although always within federally governed parameters); FWS amounts and eligibility requirements may therefore vary from university to university.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, schools that make use of Federal Work-Study funding "must make FWS jobs reasonably available to all eligible students at the school." In assigning FWS jobs, a school must consider the number of hours per week the student can work, the period of employment, the anticipated wage rate and the amount of other assistance available to the student.

At ONU the Office of Financial Aid is primarily responsible for the administration of the work-study program. The Office of Human Resources is responsible for payment of wages for earned under the Federal Work-Study program. Together the two offices have established the following procedure (outlined in steps below) to ensure the program is administered appropriately.

It is not our intent or desire to make administration of the program cumbersome or burdensome to you in any way; rather it is our intent to ensure jobs are completed, students are employed, student wages are paid and the federal work study program is administered appropriately. To this end, your assistance is both invaluable and greatly appreciated.

Procedure for employing students at Ohio Northern University under the Federal Work-Study program.

(August 2008)

  1. Students must be awarded financial aid to be employed in FWS positions on campus.

  2. FWS jobs are available throughout campus. Faculty and staff members are encouraged to notify the Office of Financial Aid if they have available positions. The positions will then be posted on the Office of Financial Aid Web site.

  3. Students are responsible for finding an available FWS position.

  4. Faculty and staff member may not request a student perform work, nor may a student begin working, until they have been authorized by both the Office of Financial Aid and the Office of Human Resources.

  5. Once students have found an available position have been asked to work, the student must complete a web Time-Entry form. The student should then submit the form to the faculty or staff member who will be supervising their work. (Forms are available on the Office of Financial Aid or Office of Human Resource Web sites.)

  6. Upon receipt of the form the faculty and staff members must then complete their portion of the form and forward to the Office of Financial Aid.

  7. Once the Office of Financial Aid has received the Web time entry form they will verify the student's eligibility for FWS funds. They will then notify the Office of Human Resources that the student has been approved for work and forward the Web time-entry form to the Office of Human Resources. If a student cannot be authorized to work, the supervisor and the Office of Human Resources will be notified.

  8. Once the Web Time Entry form has been filed with notice of being approved for FWS, the student must go to the Office of Human Resources and complete all applicable documents. If a student has previously participated in FWS, they must still visit the Office of Human Resources to ensure all documents on file are current and accurate (documents are available from the Office of Human Resources Web site).

  9. Required documents are:
    • I-9 proof of eligibility (requires presentation of certain documents verifying identity. See forms I-9, available on line for applicable documents)
    • W-4 Federal tax withholding
    • IT-4 State tax withholding
    • Direct-deposit information with voided check 
    • Personal data form
    • Web time entry form (found only in the Office of Financial Aid) 

  10. The Office of Human Resources will then input all appropriate information for payroll purposes and create the students Web time-entry account.

  11. Students are normally paid on the 15th of the month following the month in which the work was performed. It is critical that all time worked is input and approved via Web time entry no later than the third day of the month following the month in which the work was performed.  Failure of the student to report and the supervisor to approve time via Web time entry by this deadline may delay the student being paid for an additional 30 days beyond the normal pay date.

  12. Students are paid by direct deposit into an account of their choice. Student pay information is available to view or print via Luminis.

More work-study information is available online at:

http://www-new.onu.edu/administration/human_resources/student_employment