With work-study funding at Syracuse University gradually declining for the last few years, student-employees on campus are feeling the effects of decreased work-study grants.

Though this year’s amount of funds for work-study at SU has been about the same as last year’s, the amount has been constantly decreasing for the last six to seven years, said Ryan Williams, associate vice president for enrollment management and the director of scholarships and student aid.

Work-study is a program that distributes pay for student jobs based off a student’s financial package. The funds are pre-determined through the student’s financial aid award, and students can choose to earn any amount of the funds allocated to them.

With only a limited fund, the Office of Financial Aid has had to ration how work-study aid packages are distributed among students, he said.

“Students who are juniors and seniors who have not used work-study fund in their underclassmen years will either have reduced work-study or have it removed, in order for us to give it to students who are more interested in using it,” Williams said. He added students might see a decrease in earnings from previous semesters, depending on how much they work.

“If a sophomore student was awarded $2,500 for work-study and they only earned half of it, our assumption is that it’s the same amount they would earn in their junior year,” he said. 

The change in the distribution of work-study funds has caused problems for some students who are working campus jobs and who are dependent on this money.

Sarah Feltz, a sophomore biology major, said she was awarded $3,200 in her freshman year for work-study. Because she didn’t earn the full $3,200 while working her freshman year, she said she only originally received $800 this year.

Feltz said she had wanted to work the full year for the entire amount, but was unable to because of how late in the semester her job was assigned.

“I think it’s unfair, since I didn’t work as much as someone else that had the job the whole year,” Feltz said. “I make less than I expected to one year, and then I get less the next.”

Williams, the director of scholarships and student aid, said students can appeal for their work-study awards to be raised, and that in most cases they are approved.

Feltz said she sent in an appeal hoping to match the amount she was given during her freshman year, but only got an additional $500.

Certain employment opportunities on campus, such as SU Literacy Corps, are entirely dependent on work-study paying for workers, said Camille Donabella, manager of student employment services.

The minimum amount of work-study a student needs to receive in order to work for SU Literacy Corps is $1,800, said Eden Lapsley, a SU Literacy Corps tutor.

Lapsley’s work-study award was lowered, but still stayed above the $1,800 mark.

Colleen McAllister, associate director for literacy initiatives, said this happens often, with tutors being unable to return due to changes to their work-story.

Lapsley said SU Literacy Corps was down 30 tutors from usual, and lower work-study awards made it even more difficult to hire new employees.

Williams, the director of scholarships and student aid, said the financial aid office usually tries to accommodate students interested in SU Literacy Corps by providing the minimum requirement — if they demonstrate the financial need.

For students who want to earn more money without depending on work-study aid, Donabella, the manager of student employment services, suggested working with other employers on campus.

She gave SU Food Services as an example, saying it was one of the highest paying employers on campus at $9.80 an hour.

But for students like Lapsley, working with SU Food Services had never been an option.

“I don’t want to waste my time at Food Services flipping hamburger patties,” she said. “I wanted a job that would be more worth the experience while being in college, which to me, Literacy Corps fits perfectly.”

Published on September 19, 2013 at 2:21 am

Contact Alfred: alng@syr.edu

@alfredwkng