Work Study for Employers
Welcome employers and supervisors! Please find this page full of resources to guide you through hiring and employing a work study student.
Work-study is a financial aid award that allows undergraduate and graduate students to work part-time to earn money to pay for educational expenses. The program encourages community service work and work related to the recipient’s course of study. Students can be awarded Federal or Colorado Work-study.
To be eligible for a work study position, a student must:
- Submit a FAFSA and meet general federal eligibility guidelines.
- Be enrolled at least half time.
- Meeting and maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress
In order to hire a work study student, here are next steps:
- Post your position via Handshake; flag your position as Work Study
- While reviewing candidates, ask for their Work Study Eligible email sent by the Student Employment Office
- If eligible for Work Study and your position, complete hiring paperwork
- Complete and submit a Work Study Authorization form
Congrats! Here are some next steps and tips!
- Be sure that a Work Study Authorization form has been submitted
- You can track work study earnings using the Work Study Hours Tracking Sheet
- Ensure a Work Study Indicator is marked in HCM
Work Study Employer FAQs
- A student is not awarded more work study funds just because they have more than one position. All positions pull from the same work study award.
- It is the responsibility of the student and all their work study employers to track earned funds.
Hiring for a work study student is a balancing act! Please contact Student Employment if there are any questions.
First, you will want to post your position on Handshake. You can flag your position as work study, however you may have candidates apply who are not eligible for work study. At this time, there is not a way to limit to work study eligible students only.
All students eligible for work study are sent an email about their eligibility from the Student Employment office. This email does not guarantee eligibility, but can be used to confirm initial eligibility when reviewing candidates during the interview process. Students are emailed this annually as eligibility can change each academic year. Be sure to ask for this email while you are finalizing candidates! This can help confirm if a student can be hired as a work study student.
Complete all necessary hiring paper work!
While the student is undergoing HR onboarding, including background checks, you may complete and submit a Work Study Authorization form. Our staff will review and award work study funds accordingly. Please note that incomplete HR documentation may delay awarding.
Once awarded work study funds, the student and supervisor will be notified.
Please visit our Student Employment page for more hiring documentation.
Students can earn as much work study as they have been awarded. Students are generally awarded aid according to their anticipated work hours:
| Anticipated weekly hours | Annual Award |
| 1-5 hours | $2,500 |
| 6-10 hours | $5,000 |
| 11-15 hours | $7,500 |
| 15-20 hours | $10,000 |
** Student award amounts may differ depending on student’s actual eligibility.
Rollover of funds
Unearned funds from one semester are NOT automatically rolled over to future semesters.
No! However, you will need to submit a Work Study Authorization form each year.
No. While the name of the program is somewhat misleading, students should not be compensated for studying while at their work-study job. These positions are meant to enhance the academic and professional development of students while they’re in college, and should be treated as such.
Yes! However, please note: