Stonehill College changed its policy for work-study on campus in the fall of 2023. The school now prioritizes the hiring of students that are granted federal work-study in order to use 100% of the federal money given to the college.
“Most on-campus student positions prioritize the hiring of students with Federal Work Study awards,” Assistant Vice President of Student Financial Assistance, William Smith, said.
He said that certain positions that required some sort of specialization or knowledge of a particular field were still open to students regardless of their federal work-study eligibility as it was done previously, and that students who worked during the 2023-2024 academic year could be rehired regardless of being granted federal work-study.
Smith said that prior to the changes made in the fall of 2023, the offices with open student positions could only hire students with federal work-study during the first weeks of the semester. After Oct. 1, all positions would open to all students regardless of their eligibility.
“Beginning last year, we ended the practice of opening all positions to non-FWS students after Oct. 1,” he said. Smith said that despite the changes, many positions continued to be filled by students without federal work-study.
He said that the reason for these changes was that “the College has a fiduciary responsibility to prioritize the expenditure of federal aid dollars to eligible students.”
The school received $380,000 in federal work study allocations for the 2024-2025 year, and almost all positions require a 25% minimum of institutional match, he said. He also said that all student positions, regardless of the federal eligibility, were paid directly to students through payroll.
“The College consistently explores ways to maximize funding from federal and state sources to benefit our students,” Smith said.
He said these changes were beneficial to the school because it allowed students granted federal work-study to secure a job as part of their financial aid package, while also allowing the hiring of non-federal eligible students to be hired in other positions.
“We value all our student employees and seek to provide them with meaningful experiential learning opportunities through on-campus roles,” Smith said.
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