Federal Work-Study FAQs

FWS provides part-time jobs for undergraduate and graduate students with financial need, allowing them to earn money to help pay education expenses. 

If you had FWS included in your financial aid offer, visit our FWS Jobs page to review available positions.

  • FWS jobs for the fall and spring semesters will become available in mid-August.
  • If you were not offered FWS as part of your financial aid offer, you can submit an FWS appeal. The FWS appeal form can be found on our Forms page.

No. You will receive a paycheck just as you would at any other job. If you owe money to UMD, we suggest using these funds.

If you are a full-time student and eligible for work-study, you may only work up to 20 hours per week while classes are in session. If you are enrolled in less than 12 credits you must contact OSFA for permission to work more than 20 hours a week when school is in session. No overtime allowed.

If you have earned over 50% of your aid amount, and you and your supervisor think you will use up your full aid amount, you may submit an appeal for an increase.

No, your FWS will be available for one academic year so you can use it at any point between August to May.

Students are not permitted to have multiple FWS jobs at any given time. You may have one FWS job plus any additional jobs not associated with UMD’s FWS program.