Evaluations of Federal Financial Aid Information and Delivery Strategies: An Experiment in the Federal Work Study Program to Encourage Student Jobs in the Private Sector

Although most students work while in postsecondary education, those who are lower income are less likely to have jobs connected to their field of study. To address this inequity and promote more private sector partnerships, the Office of Federal Student Aid conducted an experiment to help colleges participating in the Federal Work Study program (FWS) shift at least some students who receive FWS support from on-campus to off-campus jobs. Under the experiment, colleges that volunteered received additional FWS funds and could seek waivers of certain FWS rules viewed as barriers to expanding students' program-related employment in the private sector — e.g., the maximum hours students may work or share of wages that FWS can pay. The waivers could also be applied to colleges' existing clinical rotation, student teaching, and other course-required work programs, as long as FWS continued to serve students with financial needs. This study was intended to fulfill a requirement that experiments conducted under the Experimental Sites Initiative of the Higher Education Act be evaluated and the results reported to Congress. THIS STUDY WAS DISCONTINUED BECAUSE THE FWS EXPERIMENT ENDED EARLY.