Campus Currents

Evaluating Work-Study

One of the federal government’s longtime programs to help students go to college is the Federal Work-Study Program.

Established as part of the Economic Opportunity Act in 1964, the program provides an incentive for employers to hire college students for jobs. The program reimburses employers 75 percent of the student’s wages.

To be eligible for a work-study job, students must achieve satisfactory academic progress and show financial need. Last year 410 WWC students received work-study aid.

“Work-study is a win-win situation,” says Twyla Krueger, student employment director. “Employers get labor at little cost, and students get jobs.”

The Federal Work-Study Program was originally intended for jobs in the community, and the program requires that at least seven percent of the funding be used in community-service jobs. Over time, however, many schools have limited work-study jobs to on-campus work, where students work in departments, cafeterias, and libraries.

Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism noticed this trend and studied America’s top schools to determine to what extent work-study funding was being allocated to jobs that benefit the community. Out of the top 20 universities and colleges listed in the “2002 America’s Best Colleges” guidebook published by U.S. News & World Report, only five schools met the national minimum. The results of the university’s study was published in Washington Monthly.

Walla Walla College was one of the five schools noted in the study, with 22.8 percent of the work-study funds it received going to community-service jobs. The majority of WWC students who have work-study jobs are employed by local elementary schools as reading tutors, teacher’s assistants, and playground supervisors. W

 

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