Today's boxing match pits two paying-for-college employment opportunities up against each other. In the red corner, we have the world-is-your-oyster option of Part-Time Job. And in the blue corner, we have the need-based Work-Study option.
Each employment option has some compelling aspects that makes them a title-holder for college students. Tonight’s prize? To have the honor of helping a second year undergraduate college student earn about $2,000 to pay for textbooks, coffees, and trips home for the breaks. As always, we are here to see a good clean fight, so nothing below the belt. Good luck to both employment options. (bell rings)
Well, Part-Time Job starts with a few jabs of the diversity of industries that regularly have part-time work like retail, delivery, healthcare, education, customer service, and hospitality. Work-study counters with on-campus that range from recreation center staff to lab assistants and off-campus jobs from tutoring at-risk youth to therapeutic program assistants. With both offering a wide variety of job opportunities, they are both seemingly evenly paired for this match.
Part-Time Job strikes with a forward thrust for real world, job hunting experience. To Part-Time Job the process of job hunting that often entails creating attractive resumes and cover letters, completing job applications, and interviewing are great skills for the future. Work-Study jabs back with similar job hunting skills, like job applications and interviewing.
Work-Study catches Part-Time Job totally off guard with a right hook of ease of job hunting. Since the college is running the work-study program, they have a great way to list all the variety of jobs available both on-campus and off-campus centrally. This makes it easy to explore all job options in one place.
Part-Time Job is a bit stunned from the hook, but gets back on her feet and starts taunting Work-Study because she didn’t need to complete the Free Application for
Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in order to get her employment. Work-Study has heard this before and jabs at Part-Time Job with a reminder of schedule flexibility. Since work-study employers know that the college students are focused on academics, they are accommodating for schedule adjustments when midterms and finals come around. Plus, most often college student don’t need to ask for time off for fall, winter, or spring breaks.
Part-Time Job goes for a left uppercut based on unlimited earnings and no limits on the number of hours per week a college student can work. Work-Study knows that she only can work up to a maximum dollar amount during the academic year, but is undeterred because her focus is getting through college in 4 years. Since working 10–19 hours per week can improve academic performance, Work-Study lands her own uppercut with the confidence that her college’s weekly hours worked limits and her maximum annual earnings helps her focus on degree completion.
Despite Part-Time Job being a bit off balance, Part-Time Job jabs at Work-Study twice. First, just because college students are awarded work-study does not mean they will get work-study jobs. Second, work-study funds are not automatically applied toward tuition. Work-Study shakes off the jabs and sends two uppercuts back Part-Time. First, not every student wants to work that has been awarded work-study. In fact, college students can decline the offer if they would like. Second, tuition is not the only college cost. Colleges create a
cost of attendance for each student that includes tuition, fees, room and board, books, and personal expenses. Work-study funds can be used for any these expenses.
Work-Study lands another punch front and center with earnings neutrality for next year’s financial aid offer. If a dependent student earns over $6,840 in 2018 for the 2020-21 academic year, then 50% of every dollar earned above that amount is calculated as being available to help pay for college in the following academic year. This can mean that if Part-Time Job earns a lot of wages, she may be awarded less need-based
financial aid in the future. Part-Time Job is knocked out and plummets to the canvas.
One .two…three… Part-Time Job is out and the bell rings. Work-Study is happy to have won the second year college student over to her federal financial aid program. With some job opportunities applicable to her career path and others that help her hone her communication and time management skills, she knows the second year student is on a positive career path.
Work-Study helps Part-Time Job to her feet. She knows that job experience while in college will helps with future career choices no matter if a college student chooses Work-Study or Part-Time Job. In fact, the second year college student she won over at the moment may still want to opt for Part Time Job for the summer. So Work-Study and Part-Time Job depart as friendly revivals.
Colleen Krumwiede
Co-Founder & Chief Marketing Officer
Colleen MacDonald Krumwiede is a financial aid and paying for college expert with over a decade of financial aid experience at Stanford GSB, Caltech, and Pomona College and another decade at educational finance and technology companies servicing higher education. She guides go-to-market strategy and product development at Quatromoney to transform the way families afford college.
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