UCSC Federal
Work-Study Program
Information for Non-profit Organizations
Beginning the Process
Hiring Information
Hours and Pay
Administrative Information
What is Federal
Work-Study?
The Federal College Work-Study Program stimulates
and promotes part-time employment for currently registered students
who are eligible for Financial Aid and are awarded Work-Study.
This program gives the student the opportunity to earn a portion
of their financial aid, and to explore career possibilities while
gaining valuable and practical work experience.
Students are encouraged to look for a position that relates to
their academic interest or career goal. Work-Study can only be
used during the academic year mid September through mid June,
and during quarters in which the student is enrolled in at least
6 units (undergraduate students) and 5 units (graduate students).
Any unused portion cannot be carried over to the summer or to
the following year.
The Work-Study program has been designed to benefit both students
and non-profit off-campus employers. 60% of student’s wages
are paid by Federal College Work-Study funds, or other funding
sources. The remaining balance (40% salary + 10% administrative
fee) is paid by your organization. Your Organization will benefit
by hiring employees at a minimal cost.
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Does
my organization qualify for the Work-Study program?
To qualify, the following requirements must
be met:
Non-Profit: The organization may be public or
private, must be non-profit and tax exempt as certified by the
IRS. Eligibility for membership to the organization may not be
limited in anyway.
Non-Political: The Work-Study job must be directly
supervised and may not involve the employee in political activities
which include working for a candidate for public office or an
elected official, working on a political campaign, or lobbying
on the federal, state, or local level.
Non-Religious: Maintenance of
any facility used, or to be used, for sectarian instruction, or
as a place of worship is prohibited;
For National/Community Welfare:
A Work-Study employee may only perform work that is for national
or community welfare, rather than for a particular interest or
group.
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As a
Work-Study employer, what are my responsibilities?
Your responsibilities are to:
- Provide reasonable supervision of the work performed by student
participants and permit reasonable inspection by representative
of the University.
- Provide to the UCSC Financial Aid and Scholarship Office,
for each payroll period, records indicating the number of hours
worked each week, containing your signature/certification as
to the accuracy of the hours reported and of satisfactory performance
on the part of the students.
- Pay to the University, upon receipt of an invoice from UCSC
Student Business Services, 50% of
the total compensation to be paid to the students participating
in the program. Such percentage includes a 10%
administrative charge.
- Notify the Financial Aid and Scholarship Office (cc: Career
Center), in writing, of the date and reason for the termination
of any Work-Study student.
- Provide Worker's Compensation coverage for the student.
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How do I become a Work-Study employer?
You need to download the Work-Study contract
forms and complete and sign the Work-Study
agreement. Once the agreement has been completed and signed by
the authorized signatory person of your organization and received
by the Career Center, we will forward the agreement to the director
of the Financial Aid and Scholarship Office.
If you had an agreement with UCSC the prior year,
the director of the Career Center will approve the Work-Study
agreement. Proof of IRS/State Franchise Board letter(s) of Exemption
or Articles of Incorporation will NOT be necessary in this case.
Please contact the work-study
coordinator to verify if your Work-Study contract has been
approved, and get your user name and password to create your Student
Employee Request (ER) on line.
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Where and
how can I advertise my Work-Study job listing?
Work-Study jobs submitted to the UCSC Career Center may be posted
on the on-line Student
Employee Request (ER) System. Employers may log into Employee
Request System to view your job listings using the user name
and password provided to you by the Career Center.
Read the instructions in "How
to Create a Work-Study Job Online". By completing your
Student (ER) on line, you can choose to have your job posted or
not. The Career Center will review, and if applicable, will post
your Student Employee Request (ER).
The Career Center must approve all employee requests. All hires
must have an approved ER (job description) in the ER system.
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When are students able to see my
job listings?
Jobs can be posted at any time during the school year except
during the summer term. The earliest jobs can be posted is on
the second Sunday of September (Fall Quarter).
Students can view your job postings and apply by logging into
the Student
Employee Request (ER) System. Only students registered for
the current term, and who have accepted their Work-Study award
may apply on-line. When a student applies to a job posting, you
have the option of receiving notifications via mail.
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How
do I view the applications?
As soon as the ER has been approved by the Career Center,
employers may log in to the
Employee Request (ER) System to view your job listings and
applications using the user name and password provided to you
by the Career Center. As an off-campus employer you must contact
students that you would like to interview directly. This can be
done via the web site if the student has provided an e-mail address
on their employment application.
Students may apply for your approved job at any time, however
Work-Study jobs are not posted until the day of the Work-Study
orientation, this date changes every year. Employers will receive
a date notification from the Career Center. You may also email
the Work-Study Coordinator.
Once an applicant has been selected the employer must complete
the on-line hiring process using the
Employee Request (ER) System.
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How
do I hire a Work-Study student?
Employers must hire Work-Study students on line
by using the Career Center
Employee Request (ER) System
- Click the "applications" link
- Click "search"
- Click the student's name from the list
- Set up interviews
- Click "update status" to mark reviewed. All
applications must be reviewed.
- Click "start hire". Verify start and end dates.
- Click "complete hire" (if you do not click this
button the hire process is NOT complete)
Click here for a detailed instructions Steps
for Hiring Students
If not already in the payroll system, the student should
be prepared to visit the Career Center with all required
documents for payroll sign up. It is your responsibility to
prepare the student.
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How do I rehire students returning
to a job they had last year?
To re-hire a student, who worked for you before, for the current
year, please follow the steps below.
Please note that before hiring the student, you must confirm
with them that they want to use their Work-Study award with your
organization.
- Work-Study students returning to the same job they had last
year must be re-hired each year. They are not required to re-apply
on-line, but Work-Study award usage must be clarified before
you complete a hire action for the current year. Work-Study
awards shown on any student application are always current.
- Supervisor may use previously submitted student application
to click "Start Hire", then "Complete Hire"
for current year.
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How do I know when the student
can begin work?
The hire record in the Student Employment (ER) System
will show a completed date when the student's payroll paperwork
has been completed .
After the student has completed and signed all payroll forms at
the Career Center, the student will receive a Clearance to Commence
Work "Blue" Card. You MUST ask to see this card BEFORE
they can begin working for your agency. This card will have the
date when the student can officially start working and recording
hours on their time sheet.
Students who are already active in the payroll system
may start work immediately and do not need a blue card. When you
click "complete hire", the system informs you of the
next steps.
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What documents does
the student need to begin work?
All employment/payroll paperwork will be taken care
of at the Career Center. If not active in the payroll system,
the student will need to come to the Career Center with the eh
following:
Originals of their:
- Social Security Card
- Picture ID (Campus ID is okay)
OR
Detailed
Identification List
Copies WILL NOT be accepted!
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What do I do if
a student employee is no longer working for my organization?
You must contact Patricia Blue
in the Financial Aid and Scholarship Office as well as
the work-study coordinator
at the Career Center to let them know there has been a change.
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How many hours
is a student allowed to work for my organization?
Students must arrange the work hours
and schedule with you. As an employer you should understand
that academics must take priority over the job. The maximum
number of hours a student may work in a week is nineteen hours
(19) while attending classes. The maximum hours a student may
work per week during a break is 40 hours. Students may work during
academic year breaks if they are enrolled in both the quarter
before and the quarter after the break
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If I hire a Work-Study
student, what are their maximum earnings?
Each eligible student receives a Work-Study award amount that
represents the maximum amount the student may earn (total wages)
under this program. This generally does not exceed $2,300 for
an academic year and is often less than $2,300. If the student
employee’s earnings exceed their Work-Study award as authorized
by the UCSC Financial Aid and Scholarship Office, your organization
will be charged for 100% of the wages that exceed the earnings
limit (award amount). You may wish to hire the student directly
on your payroll if their Work-Study funds run out.
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Am I responsible for
keeping track of the student's Work-Study earnings?
Yes. The employer and
the student share the responsibility for monitoring
the amount of Work-Study money earned. When a student is within
$200.00 of their earnings limit, the Financial Aid and Scholarship
Office will send you a notice. You or your organization are responsible
to pay 100% of wages earned above the student’s earning
limit. Time sheets will not be accepted and students cannot be
paid through the University Payroll system after the work-study
allocation is exhausted.
In addition, it is your responsibility to ensure that student
hours are distributed equally throughout the quarters the student
will be enrolled. In most cases, students will enroll for three
quarters and the employer should make an effort to ensure that
the students hours are divided evenly over the three quarters
so that their Work-Study earnings are received at the rate of
1/3 each quarter.
| Award Amount |
$8.00 Pay rate |
$8.50 Pay rate |
$9.00 Pay rate |
| $2,300 |
10 hrs per wk |
9 hrs per wk |
9 hrs per wk |
| $2,000 |
8 hrs per wk |
8 hrs per wk |
7 hrs per wk |
| $1,600 |
7 hrs per wk |
6 hrs per wk |
6 hrs per wk |
| $1,300 |
5 hrs per wk |
5 hrs per wk |
5 hrs per wk |
| $1,000 |
4 hrs per wk |
4 hrs per wk |
4 hrs per wk |
To ensure the student receives the maximum benefit of the Work-Study
award, it would be helpful for the employer and the student to
estimate the maximum number of hours the student can work each
week during the academic year (usually 10 weeks for each quarter
of enrollment) based on the award amount and the student’s
pay rate.
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How do I report student's
hours?
Your organization must submit any time worked each month on a
UC Santa Cruz Work-Study time sheet.
Download the Work-Study time sheet as an Excel
spreadsheet or PDF version.
After you print the Work-Study time sheet:
- You must complete and sign the time sheet. It should only
be signed by the authorized person in your organization.
- Make sure your Work-Study student signs the time sheet, and
give them a copy.
- Keep a copy for your records.
- Please fax the completed time sheet to 831-459-3628
- Submit the white original directly to the Financial
Aid and Scholarship Office by the payroll deadline to:
Attn: Patricia Blue
UCSC Financial Aid and Scholarship Office
1156 High St.
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
The original time sheet must be received in the Financial Aid
and Scholarship Office by the 15th of the following month to ensure
that the Work-Study program will pay wages. If a time sheet is
received after the 15th, the organization will be billed 100%
for wages earned.
The faxed copy must be received no later than the 23rd of each
month (some months may vary, please check schedule). You can assist
your Work-Study employee by ensuring that the person authorized
to sign Work-Study time sheets is available for signature at the
end of the monthly pay period which is the 23rd of each month.
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What if I am late
turning in time sheets?
As an employer, it is your responsibility to submit
time sheets before the established deadline. If the time sheet
is received after the deadline it will result in a one-month delay
in your Work-Study student's pay check.
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If I want
to give my student a pay raise, what should I do?
To change an employee’s
pay rate, please submit an email to the work-study
coordinator AND Patricia Blue plb@ucsc.edu,
please include the following information:
- Employee’s name
- New rate of pay
- Effective date of the change
- Reason for the raise
The change will take approximately one month to complete.
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Who determines Work-Study eligibility
and award amount for UCSC students?
The Financial
Aid and Scholarship Office is responsible for determining
the financial need and eligibility for each student who applies
for financial aid. Nationally established guidelines determined
by federal and university policies are used to calculate eligibility.
Students who are eligible may be awarded aid through a variety
of programs including grants, loans, scholarships, and Work-Study.
A student must complete an application for financial aid in order
to be considered for a Work-Study award. A Free Application for
Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) must be submitted to Federal Student
Aid Programs, www.fafsa.ed.gov
by the published deadline in early May. As funding permits, late
applicants are processed on a first-come, first-served basis after
all applications completed on-time have been awarded.
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Am I responsible
for dividing a Work-Study award between multiple jobs?
No, the student is responsible. Students may
be hired for more than one Work-Study job if needed to fully utilize
their Work-Study award. In this situation, the student will allocate
how much of the total Work-Study award they want to use for each
job. Students may not earn over the amount that is assigned to
each job. Students will complete the Work-Study allocation form
on the Employee Request System and employers will be notified
of the change of allocations and limits via email.
For example, if a student is hired for two jobs and the award
is $2,000, the student must split the Work-Study award between
the two jobs. If one job is allocated $500 and the other $1,500
for a total of $2,000, the student cannot earn more than $500
in gross earnings at the first job. At the second job, the student
may not earn more than the $1,500 allocated (gross earnings).
Students may change the allocations for multiple jobs at any time
during the year using the on-line system. However, the allocation
assigned to a particular job must include the amount already earned
plus the anticipated earnings amount for the remainder of the
academic year at that job. If an allocation must be changed due
to a change in the Work-Study award made by the UCSC Financial
Aid and Scholarship Office, a notice will be sent to the employer
stating the new earning limit.
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As an
employer, do I need to know the student eligibility requirements?
YES...student employees must meet specific requirements
to remain eligible to hold a student Work-Study position.
Students are not eligible to work if:
- The student is registered less than half-time at UCSC.
- Loses eligibility for financial aid/Work-Study.
- Has withdrawn, is on leave of absence or has been barred from
enrollment.
- Gross wages exceed the total Work-Study award.
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Who bills me the other 50% of
the student wages?
UCSC Student Business Services
will invoice for the 50% due which includes a 10% administrative
surcharge. The invoice will include an itemized description of
the amounts due to UCSC.
Checks should be made payable to: UC Regents
Please mail to:
UCSC Cashier's Office
102 Hahn Student Services Building,
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
Please include the top portion of the statement with the check.
Please identify your payment with the account number listed on
the invoice. Questions regarding the bill should be directed to
Patricia Blue in the Financial
Aid and Scholarship Office.
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How
do the Payroll/Personnel System policies apply to Work-Study employees?
As UCSC casual-restricted employees, students are eligible to
accrue sick leave and holiday pay when they work over 50% of the
hours of the month. However, if a student works more than 19 hours
per week for one month or longer and qualifies for these benefits,
your organization must pay 100% of those benefits. The Work-Study
Program will not pay for any time other than hours actually worked,
(although a 15 minute rest period may be granted for each work
period of three continuous hours or more, not to exceed two rest
periods per day).
For further information please contact the work-study
coordinator.
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