Tufts will not provide work-study opportunities to students receiving financial aid this summer because the Financial Aid Office will run out of work-study money by the end of the academic year, according to Director of Student Employment Joanne Grande.
The University prefers to use the money - which is allotted by the federal government - during the academic year, she said. Students enrolled in the program receive financial aid awards at the beginning of the year averaging about $2,000. According to Grande, students can only earn as much as the amount of the award.
In the past, however, some students have earned more than their federally-subsidized amounts because of leftover federal money. But Grande said that this has not happened in some time. "In the last few years, we've been running out," she said.
Because the pay rates are much higher than in previous years, students are using up their hours before the end of the year. Program participants should know how much money they are awarded at the beginning of the year and should not be surprised when they are out of money. "When they run out, they'll have to stop," she said. "We can't give them any more than they're allotted."
Grande also said that in her 21 years at the University, the Financial Aid office has never given money back to the government, which means it has always found a use for it.
Financial Services provides two types of programs, Federal Work-Study and Tufts Work-Study. Most work-study students are on the federal program, with only a few on the latter.
According to the Department of Education website, Federal work-study money can be used for on-campus and off-campus jobs. Off-campus work provided for by work-study funds should be in the public interest, such as non-profit agencies or public agencies. By contrast, students doing Tufts work-study can only get jobs on campus.
On campus employment for work-study students includes jobs offered by the different departments of the University.
Freshman Katie Sheedy has a work-study job at Jackson College, but does not make all the money she is awarded because the position does not afford her enough hours. "If I wanted to make the rest of the money, I would have to get another job," she said.
Aside from opportunities on campus, off-campus employment is made available to students, including community service-oriented jobs, in which the student works for a non-profit organization or a public agency. One such option for off campus work-study employment is the America Reads Program that helps to prevent illiteracy in America.
As of now, the only approved program for the America Reads Program is a Boston organization called JumpStart. The national non-profit organization is a part-time AmeriCorps program that pairs University students with children in Head Start programs. Jumpstart provides one-on-one attention to develop literacy and social skills for low-income children and resources for their families.
Carolyn Schrodel, Senior Director of University and Community Partnerships for JumpStart Boston, said the program has drawn about 85 Tufts students over the last several years.
