Eligibility
Before a student is eligible for Student Employment, a student must complete the following steps:
- If a student wants see if they qualify for Federal Work Study funding, they must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA); otherwise, this is not a requirement. For additional questions about the FAFSA contact the Financial Aid Department.
- Undergraduate students must be enrolled in classes for the semester in which they are applying to work. Students must be enrolled 12 credit hours or more to be eligible for Institutional Work Study or 6 credit hours or more for Federal Work Study.
- Graduate students must be enrolled for 9 or more (4.5 or more for FWS) credit hours or more during the fall and spring semesters, and 6 credit hours or more during the summer term.
At Eastern Kentucky University there are two types of work study programs; Federal Work Study and Institutional Work Study. Students should check their eligibility status by contacting the Financial Aid Department at 859-622-2361 or Human Resources Department at 859-622-5094.
All jobs posted on the human resource jobs site will indicate if the job is a federal work study job and/or institutional work study job.
Eligibility does not guarantee a position with either work study program. Students must apply for available jobs online at https://careers.eku.edu, go through a selection/interview process, and be selected by the hiring manager before receiving a job offer.
Federal Work Study (FWS)
The Federal Work Study (FWS) Program provides the opportunity to obtain on-campus student employment to eligible students as a part of a student’s financial aid package provided by Eastern Kentucky University and the Federal Government. These positions are not guaranteed and the number of available positions is limited.
This program is federally funded and governed by federal regulations. As such, employment of students is based on financial need as determined from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
FWS Eligibility
To be eligible for the Federal Work Study program, a student must qualify based on financial need and be one of the following:
- U.S. Citizen or National
- U.S. permanent resident with an Alien Registration Receipt Card (I-551 or I-551C)
- Permanent resident of the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands
Otherwise eligible non-citizen with a Departure Record (I-94) from the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services showing one of the following designations:
- Refugee
- Asylum granted indefinite
- Parole and/or humanitarian parole
- Cuban-Haitian entrant
- T-Visa Holder
- Certificate/eligibility letter from the Department of Health and Human Services designating “victim of human trafficking”
Institutional Work Study (IWS)
Institutional Work Study is designed to allow students who are not eligible for a Federal Work Study award to work on campus. International students are not eligible for FWS, but may seek employment through this program. In addition, FWS eligible students can utilize this program to supplement their FWS funding (as noted above) or if they are unable to obtain a job offer for an FWS job.
IWS Eligibility
Students must be enrolled full time for the semester in which they seek employment (at least 12 credit hours for undergraduate students and 9 credit hours for graduate students).
Institutional work eligibility, unlike Federal Work Study, is not determined by financial need or awards.
